THE  LIBRARY 
OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


AN 


BY 

MARY    S.     PEERING 


PORTLAND,  ME.: 

PUBLISHED  BY  DRESSER,  McLELLAN  &  CO. 
BOSTON:  HENRY  A.  YOUNG  &  CO. 


Copyright  secured  by 

DRESSER,    McLELLAN    &  CO 

1876. 


ToM. 


622712 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Fourth  of  July  is  Coming,         -  7 

CHAPTER  H. 
Is  Here,      --------       -       -     25 

CHAPTER  HI. 
•Rob's  Birthday,  -       -       -     '  -       --       -       -       -40 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Midsummer  Maying,  --------49 

CHAPTER  V. 
Surprising  Mamma,    --------69 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Helping  Pack, 90 

CHAPTER  VH. 
Summer  Days,    .--------    104 

CHAPTER  VIH. 

Prodigies,  Fanes,  and  a  Zoological  Matinee,    -  115 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Public  Speaking,         ------       -       -    131 

CHAPTER  X. 
The  Very  Last  Day,  --------149 


AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION, 


CHAPTER  I. 

FOURTH  OF  JULY  IS  COMING. 

pLLEN  street  was  short  and  not  in 
fflP]  any  way  remarkable  so  far  as  looks 
go.  But  it  was  an  extraordinary 
street  in  point  of  boys.  It  was  an  extraor- 
dinary street,  too,  as  regards  the  way  of 
looking  at  boys.  There  are  the  nicest  of 
people,  who  hold  the  opinion  that  boys  are 
disagreeable  facts,  and  that  while  there 
7 


8  AS  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

must  be  boys  of  course,  there  must  also 
be  ways  to  keep  them  out  of  sight  and 
hearing,  arid  to  prevent  the  neighbors  from 
suffering  in  consequence  of  the  boys'  ex- 
istence. But  Allen  street  sentiment  was 
different.  There  were  quiet  houses  that 
sent  out  no  boys  to  swell  the  whoop  which, 
be  the  day  fair  or  foul,  never  failed  to  rise 
at  intervals  from  some  yard  or  lane  or  side- 
walk ;  and  there  were  a  few  houses  in  which 
little  girls  gave  a  different  air  to  household 
affairs.  But  the  quiet  houses  were  those 
that  had  once  held  boys  whose  voices  the 
years  had  subdued,  or  had  forever  silenced  ; 
and  memories  like  this  do  much  to  tone 
down  the  disagreeable  noise  of  neighbors' 
boys.  Probably  no  thought  of  reproof  or 
frown  from  any  old  gentleman  looking  on 
at  his  pranks,  ever  cast  a  passing -cloud  over 
the  spirit  of  an  Allen  street  boy.  A  smile 
of  half  encouragement  or  at  worst,  of  pa- 


FOURTH  OF  JULY  IS   COMING.  9 

tient  endurance,  was  all  that  he  expected 
or  received. 

So  Allen  street  neighbors  were  all  that 
could  be  desired,  while,  as  to  numbers  of 
his  own  kind  the  most  social  boy's  heart 
must  have  been  made  glad.  There  were 
boys  of  every  age,  condition  and  com- 
plexion, from  six  weeks  old  to  sixteen  yearsr 
in  every  stage  of  mental  and  moral  growth  ; 
boys  short  and  tall ;  boys  stout  and  slender  ; 
boys  with  black  eyes  and  boys  with  blue. 
Every  pair  of  legs  was  stout  and  active  ;  ev- 
ery pair  of  lungs  was  strong  and  practised. 

Allen  street  fathers  and  mothers  held 
these  prancing  creatures  with  a  rein  tight 
enough  when  need  demanded,  but  when  the 
road  was  clear  and  no  harm  seemed  likely 
to  result,  the  reins  were  left  loose.  When 
every  boy  knows  that  at  home  retributive 
justice  sits  at  the  fireside  or  at  the  back- 
parlor  register,  a  boy  or  two  more  or  less  is, 


10  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

of  little  consequence  as  regards  confusion. 
But  when  every  boy  feels  that  what  he 
does  matters  little  so  long  as  he  doesn't  get 
"  in  the  way,"  one  boy  becomes  a  host  in 
himself  at  whose  advance  any  family  may 
well  be  dismayed. 

The  morning  on  which  I  introduce  to  you 
the  young  gentlemen  of  Allen  street,  is  a 
warm  Saturday  morning  late  in  June. 
Over  a  low  wooden  fence  four  boys,  of  about 
four  years  old,  swing  their  feet  rather 
listlessly.  Three  others,  a  little  older, 
swing  their  feet  from  gate  posts  near  by. 
Another,  still  a  year  or  t\vo  older  than 
these,  looks  down  from  a  tree  which  over- 
hangs the  fence.  His  thoughtful  face  is 
more  than  usually  thoughtful,  his  elbows 
rest  upon  a  convenient  branch,  and  his 
chin  is  held  tenderly  in  both  hands.  Not 
a  word  is  spoken  for  several  minutes. 
Clearly,  a  cloud  hangs  over  the  group. 


FOURTH  OP  JULY  IS   COMING.  11 

"  They're  twenty  cents  a  bunch,"  said 
Phil,  at  length. 

Every  face  was  instantly  turned  up 
toward  the  tree. 

"Are  they,  really?"  said  Rob.  "What 
do  big  ones  cost?" 

"  Oh,  there's  ten-centers  and  five-centers, 
and  I've  seen  twenty-centers,  'n'  every- 
thing. If  you've  got  lots  of  money  you 
can  get  boss  ones,  but  when  you  haven't, 
you've  got  to  take  the  best  you  can  get," 
answered  Phil,  from  the  tree.  "  Char- 
lie White's  got  two  dollars  to  spend." 

A  short  pause. 

"  Well,"  said  Rob,  "  anyway,  we  fellows 
shall  have  more  than  that  by  the  time  we 
get  all  our  money  together,  'n'  there'll  be 
just  as  much  noise,  exactly,  if  three  fellers 
spend  two  dollars  in  fire  crackers  as  if  one 
spent  it  all.  Or  torpedoes,  either ! "  he 
added  positively. 


12     AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

"  Oh,  yes  !  torpedoes  ! "  chorussed  the 
four  on  the  fence. 

"  Torpedoes  are  fun,"  said  Rob,  the 
solemnity  of  his  face  relaxing  a  little. 
"Don't  you  remember,  all  of  you,  when 
we  were  poppin'  *em  last  Fourth,  and  the 
boys  were  all  over  here  in  our  street  'n 
nobody  dared  to  go  through  with  horses, 
'n'  the  man  got  so  mad  'n'  papa  stopped  us 
doin'  it  ?  Oh,  that  was  fun  !  "  Sometimes 
Rob's  g's  dropped  off  very  fast. 

"  It  was  fire  crackers  that  the  man  was 
so  mad  about,  though,"  said  Phil ;  "  and 
it  did  scare  his  horse.  The  big  cheesits  '11 
be  after  us  this  year  if  we  fire  too  many 
crackers."  (A  cheesit  is  a  policeman.) 
"But  there's  no  flash  to  torpedoes  and 
not  so  much  fun." 

"  How's  rockets  ?  "  said  a  newly-arrived 
boy.  This  arrival  had  a  bat  in  his  hand, 
and  as  he  went  by  the  fence  an  adroit 


FOURTH  OF  JULY  IS  COMING.  13 

turn  of  his  wrist  brought  the  bat  whizzing 
close  to  the  four  little  faces.  The  whole 
row  winced,  but  said  nothing. 

"  That's  enough  of  that,  Joe ! "  said 
sharply,  Phil  and  Rob,  together.  "  Take 
a  fellow  your  own  size." 

"  What  do  rockets  cost  ?  "  continued 
Phil.  "  We  want  the  most  fun  for  our 
money.  How  much  money  you  got  to 
spend  ?  " 

"  Wheels  'n'  triangles  'n'  rockets  are  the 
fun !  "  said  Joe,  enthusiastically.  "  Haven't 
got  any  money  yet,  but  my  father  always 
gives  me  some  for  Fourth  July.  I  never 
got  as  much  as  I  wanted  though,  'n'  I 
mean  to  get  a  lot  of  fellows  to  make 
a  club  and  put  in  together,  'n'  get  a  pile 
of  fireworks.  'LI  you  join  ?  " 

"  Oh  yes  !  "  shouted  Rob,  taking  fire,  in 
a  moment.  "  'N'  who  else  ?  There's  Phil 
'n'  I're  one,  'n'  you're  two  — " 


14          AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

"  'N'  we're  free !  "  chirped  an  anxious 
voice  from  the  fence. 

"  No,  no,  you  can't  earn  any  money  I  " 
cried  Rob.  "  We  big  boys  can  sell  news- 
papers and  old  iron  and  do  errands,  and 
save  up  all  the  cents  that  people  give 
us." 

"That'll  do  for  awhile  after  dark,"  said 
Phil,  cautiously,  dropping  from  his  tree 
and  continuing  the  conversation  with  Joe. 
"But  suppose  we  put  in  with  you,  who's 
going  to  have  the  say  of  spending  the 
money?  We  want  some  fire  crackers  V 
things,  ever  so  many  bunches,  but  we  don't 
want  many  rockets.  You  seem  to  want 
more  fireworks  than  anything  else.  The 
city  government  always  fires  off  rockets ; 
we  might  as  well  buy  bells  to  ring  as  to 
buy  rockets." 

"Well,"  said  Joe,  "we  shaU  all  have 
some  money  of  our  own  and  we  can  spend 


FOURTH  OP  JULY  IS  COMING,  15 

that  as  we  want  to.  But  s'pose  now,  as 
a  club,  we  get  our  money  first  and  vote 
how  to  spend  it  after  wards.  We  can  get 
together  and  fire  off  things  that  belong  to 
the  club,  and  then  we  can  stay  round  in 
the  same  place  and  fire  off  the  things  that 
we  buy  for  ourselves.  That  way  they'll 
last  all  day." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rob,  "  there'll  be  plenty  of 
rockets  in  Deering's  pasture,  and  all  the 
little  chickens  on  the  fence  will  have  lots 
of  torpedoes,  and  we've  all  got  tin  horns, 
and  I've  got  a  drum  —  lots  of  boys  've  got 
drums  —  'n'  there  isn't  so  much  fun  in 
anything  's  there  is  in  crackers  I  " 

During  this  rapid  speech  three  or  four 
boys  from  neighboring  streets  had  silently 
added  themselves  to  the  group,  all  anxious 
as  to  the  coming  celebration,  and  excite- 
ment was  soon  at  fever  heat.  A-  "  com- 
pany" was  formed,  shutting  out  the  four 


16  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

little  people  and  including  the  seven  "  big 
boys."  Phil,  being  made  president,  took 
his  seat  on  a  post,  and  the  others  gathered 
about  him.  Louis,  Carl,  Rex,  and  Jamie 
tumbled  down  from  the  fence  and  stood 
on  the  outside  of  the  group.  Since  they 
couldn't  "  belong,"  they'd  look  as  large  as 
they  could,  and  to  this  end  they  put  their 
hands  in  their  pockets  and  swaggered  when 
they  walked,  in  a  way  that  would  have  done 
no  discredit  to  a  hotel  waiter  on  a  Sunday 
afternoon. 

The  "company"  went  on  with  the  dis- 
cussion of  ways  and  means. 

"  Newspapers  bring  seventy  cents  a  hun- 
dred," said  Joe,  "and  our  house  is  full  of 
'em.  People  buy  'em  to  tie  round  things 
at  stores." 

"  Seventy  cents  is  a  good  deal,"  said 
Rob ;  "  and  then  there's  old  iron.  They 
give  two  cents  a  pound  for  old  iron  —  or 


FOURTH  OF  JULY  IS   COMING.  17 

else  it's  two  pounds  for  a  cent.  There's 
as  much  as  ten  pounds  in  the  cellar,  Phil." 

"  Old  iron  don't  weigh  so  much  at  the 
shop  as  it  does  when  you're  carrying  it 
there,"  observed  Phil,  sarcastically.  "  I'm 
going  to  sell  my  stilts  and  turn  'em  into 
fire  crackers." 

"  When  the  Free  Street  steeple  was 
taken  down  the  other  day,  Charlie  White 
got  ten  pairs  of  pigeons,  and  sold  'em  for 
twenty  cents  a  pair,  so  he's  ready  for  the 
Fourth.  But  then  nobody  else  wants, 
pigeons,  and  nobody  is  going  to  take  down, 
another  steeple." 

"  Mamma  always  gives  me  something 
when  I  do  errands  for  her,"  said  Rob,, 
"and  there's  always  errands  to  do." 

"  Why  don't  you  get  a  hand-organ  ? "" 
put  in  Jamie.  "All  the  boys  would  give- 
you  cents  when  you  grinded." 

"  And  get  a  monkey,"  added  Carl,  "  and 


18     AN  AVEEAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

when  he  wasn't  at  work  we  could  play 
with  him." 

"  Why  don't  you  did  deens  to  sed  ? " 
asked  Rex,  whose  pronunciation  would  not 
come  out  straight  no  matter  what  his  ef- 
forts. 

"  Of  course  we  shant  dig  greens  to  sell 
nor  get  a  hand-organ,"  said  Phil.  "  That 
wouldn't  do ;  but  we  could  have  a  store 
—  a  boss  store." 

"And  sell  boats!" 

"  And  guns,  wooden  ones." 

"And  books!" 

"  'N'  old  diaries !  "     This  was  Rob. 

"  'N'  bats  !  " 

"'N'  balls!" 

"'N'  pencils!" 

"  'N'  paper  caps  I  " 

"'N'  dolls  for  the  girls!" 

"  I'll  put  in  my  kitten !   she's  got  fits  !  " 

"  I've  got  a  bird's  nest !  " 


FOTJETH  OF  JULY  IS   COMING.  19 

"  I've  got  a  one-bladed  knife  I  " 

««  All  right,  then  !  " 

"All  right!" 

"  Hurrah  !  come  ahead  on  !  " 

And  away  went  the  seven,  tumbling  over 
each  other  as  they  went,  hurrahing,  shriek- 
ing, and  shouting,  and  followed  closely  by 
Rex,  Carl,  and  Jamie,  crying :  "  det  on ! 
det  on !  do  ahead  I  all  yite  !  " 

Louis,  who  never  hurried,  came  up  in 
a  dignified  way,  softly  whistling  America. 

"  I've  got  a  cart,  you  know,  to  take  the 
bundles  home  in,  and  we  little  fellers'll  be 
your  errand  boys,"  he  said  briefly  to  the 
president  as  he  approached  that  dignitary. 

"All  right!"  said  the  president. 

An  hour  later,  in  a  neighboring  yard, 
the  store  was  in  full  operation.  Two  boxes 
on  end  were  bridged  by  a  board.  On  this 
board  was  temptingly  displayed  the  stock 
in  trade  to  which  as  first  proposed,  had 


20          AN  AVERAGE   BOY'S  VACATION. 

been  added  refreshments.  Hard  bread,  gin- 
ger snaps,  sugar  cookies,  and  sponge  cake, 
were  invitingly  arranged,  and  a  coat  or  two 
of  dust  mattered  little  to  the  average  cus- 
tomer. 

"There's  nothing  here  for  less  than  two 
cents,"  was  the  first  announcement.  But, 
though  "  runners "  were  sent  out  by  the 
firm,  and  customers  flocked  in  from  neigh- 
boring streets,  business  didn't  thrive.  It 
was  found  that  boys  can't  always  com- 
mand two  cents  at  so  short  notice ;  no 
more  can  girls.  So  it  was  decided  that 
nails  and  pins  should  be  legal  tender,  ten 
of  either  being  equal  to  two  cents. 

"  We've  got  to  make  sales  anyway," 
argued  the  seven  proprietors. 

Then,  indeed,  there  were  sales.  The 
clerks  were  frightfully  busy.  There  were 
loud  cries  of  "cash  here!"  The  four  little 
errand  boys  deserted  the  cart  and  took  to 


FOURTH  OP  JULY  IS  COMING.  21 

their  feet,  carrying  home  paper  boats, 
wooden  guns,  jack-knives  without  any 
springs,  and  tops  without  any  strings. 

"  So  cheap ! "  said  the  little  customers 
to  themselves  and  to  each  other,  as  they 
unrolled  the  papers. 

At  the  end  of  half  an  hour  the  board 
was  swept  clean.  The  store  was  closed, 
and  the  "  company "  sat  down  on  the 
counter  to  reckon  profits. 

"  Ten's  an  easy  thing  to  divide  by,  ain't 
it  ?  Two  hundred  nails  and  three  hundred 
pins  —  same  as  a  dollar,"  said  Rob,  briskly. 

"Well,  not  exactly,"  said  Phil,  "be- 
cause we  haven't  any  money." 

"Let's  divide  'em  any  way,"  said  Rob, 
undaunted ;  "  perhaps  somebody '11  give  us 
some  money  for  'em."  He  had  in  mind 
the  mamma  at  home  whose  sympathy  with 
such  enterprises  was  far  reaching. 

"  It's  fun   to    have   a  store,   ain't    it  ? " 


22          AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

continued  Rob.  "And  the  money  don't 
make  so  much  difference.  Of  course  we 
always  have  some  for  Fourth  July,  any- 
way." 

That  night  a  long  conversation  on  busi- 
ness took  place  between  Phil  and  his  father. 

"  I  never  shall  keep  a  store,"  said  Phil. 
"You  can't  tell  whether  you'll  make  any- 
thing. And  I  shan't  be  a  lawyer ;  it  takes 
too  long  to  get  started  in  business.  Nobody 
is  obliged  to  carry  a  case  to  a  young  law- 
yer. But  if  I  should  be  a  doctor  and  there 
was  a  baby  within  two  doors  sick  with 
croup,  nobody  would  wait  to  think  how 
old  I  was.  They'd  just  run  and  get  me 
and  I  should  save  the  baby.  Then  I'm 
all  right!" 

"  That's  so !  "   said  Rob,  admiringly. 

"  But  if  I'm  a  lawyer,"  continued  Phil, 
"I  might  starve  before  I  got  any  cases. 
What  could  I  live  on  ?  " 


FOURTH  OF  JULY  IS   COMING.  23 

"  Oh,  you  know,"  broke  in  Rob,  "  that's 
easy  enough ;  you  could  live  on  food." 

"That's  too  silly,  Rob,"  returned  Phil. 
"  Where  is  the  food  to  come  from  ?  " 

"  I'll  give  you  all  the  money  in  my 
bank,"  said  Rob,  promptly  ;  "  and  there's 
seven  dollars  and  a  half,  I  believe.  You 
could  empty  it  all  into  the  big  bank  and 
let  it  draw  interest,  or  you  could  buy  food 
with  it.  You  can  do  just  as  you've  a  mind 
to  about  that." 

"  What  will  you  do  without  it  ?  "  asked 
Phil,  looking,  as  usual,  at  both  sides  of  the 
question.  "  You'll  be  getting  into  business 
about  the  same  time." 

"  Oh,  I  shall  drive  a  hack.  You  drive 
a  man  to  the  station  in  the  morning  and 
there's  fifty  cents  to  pay  for  your  breakfast. 
Then  you  drive  a  man  from  the  station  to 
a  hotel,  and  there's  your  dinner.  If  your 
passenger  don't  pay,  you  can  keep  him  in 


24  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

the  hack.  I  went  down  to  the  depot 
to-day  with  Johnny  Lyman,  a  hackman  't 
I  know,  and  he  let  me  take  the  thing  that 
he  wears  on  his  hat  —  it  says  hack  on  it  — 
and  I  put  it  in  the  band  of  my  hat.  'N' 
I  went  into  the  depot  and  hollered  'hack 
here !  hack  here,  sir !  Any  part  of  the 
city,  sir ! '  's  loud  's  I  could.  And  do  you 
believe,  a  gentleman  and  three  ladies  en- 
gaged me,  and  went  and  got  into  the  hack, 
and  the  gentleman  gave  me.  a  nine  cent 
orange !  Thai's  the  boss  business,  you'd 
better  believe.  Anyway,  we  can  divide  my 
seven  dollars  and  a  half." 

"  But  you  know  I've  got  more  than  that 
in  my  bank,"  said  Phil. 

"  All     right ! "     said    Rob,    cheerfully  ; 
"  then  we  can  divide  yours  just  as  well." 


CHAPTER  II. 

IS  HERE. 

|LANG !  go  the  bells ;  boom !  go  the 
guns  ;   snap  !   go   crackers ;  pop  !  go 
torpedoes ;  out  of  bed !  fly  the  boys  ; 
Fourth  of   July  is  begun. 

Rob  tiptoes  into  his  mother's  room,  looks 
out  under  the  curtain,  tiptoes  to  the  side 
of  the  bed,  and  says  in  a  loud  whisper : 

"  Louis  'd  better  not  wake  up,  'cause  he 
might  asturb  you,  mamma." 

"  Whoop  I "  says  a  voice  outside  the 
window. 

25 


26  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

««  Yes,  in  a  minute !  "  shouts  Rob,  with 
a  jump,  and  in  a  voice  that  fills  not  only 
the  room  but  the  house. 

"  In  an  instant  Louis  comes  to  the  sur- 
face wide  awake,  and  with  his  clothes  in 
his  arms  save  such  as  he  has  dropped  on 
the  way. 

"  Dress  me  !  dress  me  quick,  mamma  !  " 
he  cries  in  a  frenzy,  dancing  about  the 
bed. 

Rob  makes  a  little  heap  of  his  clothes  in 
the  middle  of  the  floor,  and  begins  putting 
on  one  thing  after  another,  but  everything 
goes  on  wrong  side  up  or  wrong  side 
out. 

"  Go  fire  a  cap-pistol  in  Phil's  ear  to 
wake  him  up ! "  suggests  Rob  to  Louis, 
but  both  are  too  busy  to  carry  out  the 
proposal. 

Meantime,  Phil  has  kept  steadily  on  with 
the  work  of  dressing,  and  just  as  Rob 


IS   HERE.  27 

notices  that  both  his  feet  are  in  boots 
without  stockings,  Phil  gives  a  shout  out- 
side. 

Then  a  chorus  of  whoops  rises  from  as 
many  as  half  a  dozen  voices. 

"  Yes,  yes,  I'm  coming  !  "  shouted  Rob, 
in  despair,  breaking  his  boot  lacing. 

"  Yes,  we're  coming ! "  echoed  Louis, 
slipping  his  face  from  under  the  sponge 
in  his  mother's  hand. 

How  the  dressing  was  at  last  accom- 
plished in  the  midst  of  flying  hands  and 
feet,  and  confusion  of  little  white  heads 
and  blue  eyes  and  pink  cheeks,  nobody 
but  the  mother  could  ever  tell. 

How  much  of  her  careful  warning  as 
to  gunpowder  and  matches  and  snapping- 
crackers,  took  effect  upon  the  two  little 
men  who  went  scampering  out  with  each 
a  bunch  of  crackers  and  matches  enough 
to  burn  up  Allen  street,  nobody  but  the 
boys  could  ever  tell. 


28          AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

"She  didn't  tell  Phil  so,"  said  Louis 
to  Rob,  as  they  went  over  and  over  each 
other  on  the  way  down  stairs. 

"  Oh,  no,  nothing'll  happen  to  him  !  " 
answered  Rob  ;  "  nothin'  ever  does ;  it's 
you  little  fellers  she's  worried  about." 

"Rob,  is  there  any  danger  'bout  powder 
'n'  matches  ? "  asked  Louis,  confidentially, 
implying  by  his  tone  all  the  distrust  of 
his  sex  in  a  woman's  estimate  of  gunpow- 
der. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  answered  Rob,  in  a  tone  that 
carried  conviction.  "It's  the  boss  stuff  to 
blow  yourself  up  with  ;  I  heard  of  a  man 
once.  You'd  better  do  just  as  she  tells 
you,  I  tell  yer !  An'  don't  keep  too  close 
to  me  'cause  I  might  blow  you  up,  you 
see,  by  accident." 

"  Do  you  s'pose  you  shall  ?  "  asked  Louis, 
anxiously. 

"Oh,  no,  I  guess  not,  only  don't  stay 
too  close,  'cause  I'm  careless,  mamma  says." 


IS   HERE.  29 

Shouts  were  redoubled  as  the  two  ap- 
peared ;  several  crackers  went  off  in  their 
honor,  and  in  reply  Louis  tooted  his  tin 
horn  which  had  hitherto  been  held  sacred  to 
Washington's  birthday.  A  hint  is  enough. 
The  little  group  quickly  scattered  in  all 
directions,  and  in  three  minutes  every  boy 
was  back  at  his  place  with  a  horn  at  his 
lips. 

Toot  —  toot  —  pop  —  snap  —  bang  —  snap 
—  bang  —  pop — pop — POP — POP — POP!!! 
Over  and  over  the  din  died  out,  rose  again, 
swelled,  and  died  out ;  but  when,  at  half 
past  seven  o'clock,  breakfast  bells  began 
to  ring,  there  was  no  sign  of  weariness 
nor  lack  of  supplies. 

"  It's  worth  savin'  up  for,  isn't  it,  Phil  ?  " 
asked  Rob,  at  breakfast.  Rob  had  saved 
seven  cents  during  the  last  three  months. 

Phil  wished  he  had  been  "  saving  up " 
ever  since  Christmas. 


30     AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

"  Bet  ten  snap  crackers  you  don't  know 
what  Fourth  of  July  is  about,"  said  Phil, 
by  way  of  keeping  up  the  conversation. 

"  Oh,  I  do ! "  said  Rob,  indignantly. 
"It's  all  about  George  Washington,  and 
that's  why  there  are  horns.  I  saw  a  magic- 
lantern  picture  of  Bunker  Hill  and  the 
death  of  Bunker.  That's  why  they  fire 
crackers  !  "  he  added  conclusively. 

Explanations  followed,  but  the  .history 
lesson  took  little  effect,  owing  to  constant 
efforts  of  the  students  to  look  out  of  one 
window  or  another,  as  well  as  the  frequent 
excitement  produced  by  the  explosion  of 
a  fire  cracker,  and  the  plain  inference  that 
there  were  boys  free  from  the  necessity 
of  coming  to  breakfast  on  Fourth  of  July 
mornings. 

"Put  'em  in  a  tin  pan  and  shut  down 
the  cover,  and  you  ought  to  hear  'em 
rattle  !  "  said  Rob  musing. 


IS   HERB.  31 

"  I  wish  I  had  a  thousand  billion  of  snap 
crackers  "  —  began  Louis. 

"  Hurt  yourself  —  better  have  torpedoes," 
put  in  Rob,  with  his  mouth  full. 

"  No  —  crackers  !  "  insisted  Louis.  "  I 
wish  I  had  a  hundred  trillion  bunches  of 
crackers,  and  there'd  be  a  quadrillion  thou- 
sand and  eighty-four  in  every  bunch.  How 
many  would  that  make  ?  " 

"  Oh,  that's  a  vigintillion,"  said  Rob, 
learnedly,  "  but  then  you  haven't  got  'em." 

"  School  committee  and  all  the  teachers 
couldn't  do  that  without  a  slate  and  pen- 
cil," said  Phil.  "Hear  that!"  he  shouted, 
as  a  whole  bunch  of  crackers  went  off  un- 
der the  window.  "  Oh,  mamma,  do  'scuse 
us  all!" 

Phil  seldom  clipped  his  words  but  excuse 
takes  more  time  in  pronunciation  than  most 
boys  can  afford  to  spend  when  fairly  ready 
to  leave  the  table. 


32    AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

Away  they  went,  and  the  popping  began 
again.  A  large  drum  was  heard.  A  broken 
violin  was  added  to  the  celebration  prop- 
erty. A  flag  appeared.  There  were  a  great 
number  of  horns  and  a  "  real  fife,"  Rob 
said;  "honest  truly,  black  and  bluely,  lay 
me  down  and  cut  me  intwoly." 

A  procession  formed.  Foreign  population 
stopped  on  its  way  home  from  church,  and 
all  under  fourteen  years  old  joined  the  pro- 
cession. The  violin  plajed  nothing,  the 
drum  beat  nothing,  and  the  fife  made  no 
attempt  at  a  tune,  but  there  was  a  glorious 
noise. 

The  procession,  including  in  its  ranks  a 
great  many  members  ragged  enough  to  have 
made  good  fantastics,  marched  several  times 
through  the  street,  into  a  lane  and  out 
again. 

Carl,  Rex;  Louis,  and  Jamie  followed  in 
the  rear,  shouting  with  all  the  might  of 


IS   HERE.  33 

their  shrill  voices,  but  holding  tightly  by 
each  other's  hands,  half  afraid  of  the  raga- 
muffin force  in  front  of  them.  At  last, 
as  the  motley  procession  straggled  by,  four 
mothers  advanced  upon  this  rear  guard 
and  carried  them  all  off. 

There  wasn't  so  much  excitement  as  suits; 
the  Irish  American  mind,  so  the  foreign 
element  gradually  grew  less.  A  base  ball 
match  drew  off  the  head  drummer,  the 
violin  was  tired,  and  the  fife  out  of  breath,, 
and  the  originators  of  this  great  civic  dis- 
play found  themselves  sitting  upon  the 
fence  in  a  dusty,  draggled,  forlorn  condi- 
tion. 

There  was  silence  for  several  minutes,, 
broken  only  by  a  fire  cracker  in  some  back 
yard.  A  string  of  explosions  made  a  slight, 
sensation,  and  two  boys  proposed  going  to 
see  about  it. 

"  It's  only  some  girls  somewhere,"  said 
Phil ;  and  silence  fell  again. 


34     AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

"  Don't  you  wish  we  had  some  lemmunade 
—  cold  —  with  ice  in  it?  and  some  pine 
apples  ?  and  some  oranges  ?  " 

"  Too   early   for  lemonade.     Never    have 
it  till  noon  ;   but  there's   a  game  'of  base 
ball  on  the  promenade." 
"Who  plays?" 
"  Reserlutes." 
"  Derrygoes." 

"  Bet  the  Andrew-scoggins  could  beat 
'em  all,  with  one  hand." 

"  Well,  let's  go  up  ;  "  and  away  through 
dust  and  heat  went  the  tired  little  crowd 
to  sit  in  the  sun  for  two  hours. 

Think  you  that  they  came  home  tired 
and  feeling  as  anybody  but  a  boy  would 
have  felt  ?  Not  at  all.  Two  hours  of  rest 
acted  like  a  charm,  and  by  the  time  that 
the  "  lemmunade  "  had  been  disposed  of,  and 
dust,  powder  and  lemon  had  been  all  washed 
off  together,  cleaner  boys  were  never  seen, 


IS  HEBE.  35 

nor  those  more  ready  for  whatever  the 
afternoon  might  offer. 

A  fresh  supply  of  crackers  and  torpedoes 
was  brought  out  by  every  boy ;  mothers, 
with  great  misgivings,  doled  out  matches ; 
adjacent  streets  sent  delegates  to  attend  the 
festivities,  and  the  celebration  began  again. 
All  the  large  crackers  had  been  saved,  till 
afternoon.  "  Ten-centers  "  and  "  twenty- 
centers"  were  common.  What  in  the 
morning  had  been  a  pop  was  now  a  bang ; 
what  had  been  a  bang  was  now  a  crash. 

When  the  Allen  street  supply  gave  out 
there  were  plenty  of  boys  to  supply  the 
lack.  What  was  wanting  in  crackers  was 
made  up  in  noise  and  boys. 

Upon  the  whole  this  afternoon  perform- 
ance was  more  dignified  than  that  of  the 
morning,  just  as  an  occasional  crash  is 
always  more  telling  in  its  general  effect 
than  a  frequent  pop. 


36     AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

Fireworks  —  pin  wheels,  triangles,  some 
rockets  and  a  few  fiery  serpents  —  were 
sent  off  in  Allen  street  quite  early.  They 
were  sent  off  before  dark,  in  fact ;  because 
there  were  to  be  rockets  in  Deering's  Pas- 
ture that  evening,  and,  moreover,  Carl, 
Rex,  Jamie  and  Louis  going  in  to  the 
house  at  seven  o'clock,  it  was  thought  fair 
to  give  them  the  benefit  of  the  whole 
proceedings. 

To  be  quite  truthful,  the  fireworks  were 
all  over  before  supper.  They  would  have 
looked  better  by  night,  I  daresay,  but  the 
boys  found  them  very  satisfactory  by  day- 
light. 

There  was  not  a  cracker  left,  and  I 
don't  suppose  a  torpedo  could  have  been 
found  from  one  end  of  the  street  to  the 
other. 

Now  and  then  some  ragged  little  fellow 
coming  through  the  street,  stopped  among 


^^V4ofcy;i^pjj-',*<?5ii6(gi(:*ij?ji5      ,:  EaE'»i«i"-  *-' « 


IS  HERE.  37 

the  red,  blackened  bits,  picked  up  one 
stump  of  cracker  after  another  and  applied 
a  match  to  it;  or  if,  as  was  more  likely, 
he  had  no  match,  he  put  the  stumps  in 
his  pocket  to  experiment  upon  by  and  bye. 
An  exploded  torpedo,  with  its  best  side  up, 
deceived  him,  probably,  but  a  used-up  tor- 
pedo tells  its  own  story  at  once,  while  fire 
crackers  hold  out  great  possibilities.  Any- 
thing more  dismal,  however,  than  looking 
for  treasures  among  exploded  fireworks,  can 
hardly  be  imagined. 

Phil  was  much  interested  to  know  why 
all  this  kind  of  boys  speak  of  a  fire  cracker 
as  she  ;  and  Rob  was  shocked  to  find  that 
a  boy  wanted  a  cracker,  which  he  begged 
of  him,  "jest  to  shoot  a  caterpillar  with." 

"Why,"  said  Rob,  "he  fairly  burst  the 
caterpillar,  and  that  was  awful  cruel." 

"  What  did  the  caterpillar  do  to  him 
first  ?  "  asked  Louis. 


38    AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

"Not  a  thing.  It  was  sunning  itself  on 
a  post." 

"Well,  it's  jest  as  good  as  killing  fish 
with  a  hook,"  urged  Louis.  "  And  you  do 
that  yourself,  Rob  Knox  I  You  know  you 
do." 

"  You  don't  say  so !  well,  s'pose  I  do,  I 
don't  do  it  all  for  fun;  fish  have  to  be 
eaten.  And  I  don't  do  it  with  a  fire 
cracker !  And  fishes  don't  sun  themselves 
on  posts !  " 

Here  were  too  many  arguments:  Louis 
gave  it  up  and  went  to  bed,  unconvinced, 
but  too  sleepy  to  know  why. 

"  There  won't  be  any  fireworks  over  in 
the  Pasture  because  it  is  sure  to  rain," 
Phil  had  prophesied  in  the  morning;  and 
his  prophecy  was  quite  true.  At  half  past 
seven  o'clock,  a  heavy  shower  sent  every- 
body indoors ;  the  shower  ended  in  a  slow, 
dreary  drizzle  which  kept  everybody  there. 


IS   HERE.  39 

Phil  and  Rob  spent  an  hour  in  steady 
labor  to  keep  awake,  and  only  yielded  at 
nine  —  Phil  going  to  sleep  in  one  arm- 
chair, and  Rob  dropping  off  in  another, 
with  his  head  hanging  over  the  side. 

"It's  been  foawtiful,"  said  Rob,  sleepily, 
as  he  laid  his  head  upon  his  pillow. 

"  That's  so  !  "  said  Phil.  "  I  igmire  it !  " 
which  slip  of  the  tongue  goes  to  show  that 
he  was  sleepier  than  he  knew. 


CHAPTER  III. 

ROB'S     BIRTHDAY. 


children  wonder  that  their 
birthdays  don't  occur  oftener  dur- 
ing the  year,  but  where  three  boys 
are  in  the  family,  birthdays  and  their  at- 
tendant carnivals  are  alarmingly  frequent. 

It  came  about  one  day,  soon  after  the 
glorious  Fourth,  that  in  view  of  Rob's 
ninth  birthday,  mamma  and  Aunt  Marion 
took  counsel  together.  Now  everybody 
who  has  enjoyed  in  his  own  home  such 
advantages  of  boyish  education  as  only 

40 


BOB'S  BERTHDAY.  41 

a  resident  maiden  .aunt  can  afford,  knows 
that  no  childish  mind  is  too  young  to  re- 
ceive properly  directed  ideas  of  beauty. 

Mamma  and  Aunt  Marion  were  wearied 
with  the  seemingly  endless  rotation  of  kites, 
jack-knives,  penknives,  balls,  bats,  steam- 
engines,  bows  and  arrows,  bean  poppers, 
picture  books  —  happy  thought !  no  more 
picture  books,  but,  in  their  place,  pic- 
tures ! 

"  Pictures  will  educate  his  taste,"  pro- 
nounced Aunt  Marion ;  and  there  stood 
out  in  her  memory  two  medallions  in  mar- 
ble, which  hang  in  a  certain  gallery  of  the 
Vatican ;  wandering  musical  bands  of  little 
boys,  scantily  clothed,  to  be  sure,  but  with 
sweet  earnest  faces  from  which  curling  hair 
is  tossed  lightly  back,  and  with  every 
pretty  limb  full  of  boyish  motion.  Wan- 
dering through  this  gallery  when  in  Rome, 
Aunt  Marion  had  seen  at  a  glance  that 


42     AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

one  of  these  boys  was  the  image  of  Rob. 
What  more  appropriate  than  to  give  to 
Rob  photographs  of  these  medallions,  and 
so  educate  his  taste?  Moreover,  Aunt 
Marion  had  seen  the  photographs  down 
town. 

Mamma  was  delighted.  In  desperation 
she  had  nearly  bought  a  ball,  which  would 
have  been  the  tenth  ball  in  the  family  that 
summer. 

But,  "  balls  are  a  bad  job,"  Rob  said ; 
"  no  use  to  get  a  boss  fifty-center  and  just 
throw  it  down  a  chimney.  Besides  some 
big  Irish  boy  always  steals  everybody's 
bat." 

"  Rob,  don't  say  *  boss  ' ;  that's  slang. 
And  there  are  plenty  of  better  words  than 
'  big,' "  put  in  Aunt  Marion. 

The  photographs  were  bought  and,  pret- 
tily framed,  were  hidden  away  till  such 
time  as  a  surprise  should  be  in  order. 


BOB'S  BIRTHDAY.  43 

That  night  Rob  announced  ;  "  t'morrer's 
my  birthday  'n'  I'm  goin'  to  have  a  pocket- 
book.  You  promised." 

"  Spell  t'morrer,  Rob,"  suggested  Aunt 
Marion. 

"  To  morrow  takes  too  long,"  said  Rob, 
emphatically ;  "  but  papa's  goin'  to  give  it 
to  me,  birthday." 

"  Learn  to  speak  English,  my  dear  ;  "  — 
from  Aunt  Marion  again  —  "  there's  a  g  at 
the  end  of  going,  and  what  do  you  mean 
by  'it'?" 

A  promise  is  a  promise,  decided  mamma, 
and  Rob  must  have  the  purse,  but  hereafter 
we  won't  promise. 

Next  day  the  photographs,  still  in  their 
wrappings,  were  brought  forward.  Rob 
looked  at  the  great  bundle  and  knew  it  at 
once  for  anything  but  a  pocket-book.  He 
tried  to  bear  his  disappointment  manfully 
but,  contrasted  with  the  great  bundle  be- 


44          AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

fore  him,  the  ideal  pocket-book  was  too 
much  for  his  fortitude,  and  his  lip  trembled. 

"I  wanted  a  —  "  began  Rob. 

"  What's  that  ?  what's  that  ?  "  shouted 
the  other  boys,  dancing  about  the  bundle. 

"  Never  mind  what  it  is,"  quivered  Rob  ; 
"  I  don't  care  about  it.  I  wanted  a  —  " 

"  Now  that  is  rude,"  broke  in  mamma. 
"You  might  have  been  polite  enough  to 
take  this  present  and  see  if  the  pocket- 
book  wouldn't  come  too.  You  don't  even 
know  what  these  things  are ;  but  we  will 
put  them  away  till  somebody  wants  them." 

"  Give  'em  to  me !  give  'em  to  me !  " 
cried  Phil  and  Louis  together,  regardless 
of  what  the  bundle  held. 

But  the  pictures  disappeared,  their  wrap- 
pings still  unopened,  and  justice  was  sat- 
isfied. 

The  family  dispersed  to  wash  its  face 
and  brush  its  hair.  Rob  reappeared  speed- 


ROB'S  BIRTHDAY.  45 

ily,  his  hair  parted  diagonally  from  ear  to 
ear,  and  two  little  dripping  locks,  which 
had  escaped  his  hasty  brush,  hanging  over 
his  forehead.  His  face,  though  still  wet  in 
spots,  beamed  with  a  virtuous  resolution. 

"  I  guess  I'll  take  'em,  mamma." 

"  But  it  is  too  late.  They  are  put  away, 
and  you  are  to  have  only  your  pocket- 
book,"  said  mamma.  "  What  we  can't  do 
for  your  taste,  we  will  do  for  your  man- 
ners." 

Great  was  the  quiet  at  dinner,  and  that 
bit  of  leaven  worked  in  three  minds,  but 
this  was  by  no  means  the  close  of  Rob's 
birthday. 

"  Down  to  papa's  office  "  he  went  for  his 
pocket-book,  and  brought  it  away  triumph- 
antly. On  the  way  home  he  came  to  a 
store  where  he  was  allowed  to  go,  occa- 
sionally, for  pony  puzzles  and  a  scrap  df 
conversation,  and  so  dropped  in. 


46     AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

Six  o'clock  came,  but  no  Rob.  Half 
past  six.  It  rained,  and  a  band  splashed 
by  to  receive  a  company  come  from  some- 
where to  visit  somebody.  Rob  has  followed 
the  band  and  doesn't  know  six  o'clock  from 
seven,  was  decided.  The  band  splashed 
back  again  with  the  company  they  had 
"  received." 

"  I  'spect  he's  drowned,"  suggested 
Louis ;  "  or  the  tramps  Ve  got  him.  I'll 
bet  it's  tramps." 

Mamma  opened  the  door  and  peered  out 
into  the  rain.  Great  black  clouds  were 
coming  up  fast,  and  the  night  was  as  dark 
as  midwinter,  but  moonlight  was  due,  so 
no  street  lamps  were  lighted,  a  piece  of 
economy  based,  without  regard  to  thunder 
showers,  upon  the  habits  of  the  moon. 

"Hi  —  i — Hi,  mamma!  worried  about 
me !  "  said  Rob,  springing  in  at  the  open 
door  with  a  subdued  whoop.  "  I've  got 


EOB'S  BIKTHDAY.  47 

a  ticket  to  the  p'liceman's  ball  next  Friday, 
'n'  I'm  goiu'  to  invite  you.  Come  out  in 
the  dinin'-room  and  see  'em." 

"  But  there's  a  g  at  the  end  of  dining," 
put  in  Aunt  Marion. 

"  Splendid  knife  and  pictures,  and  bottle 
hair  oil,  and  money  in  new  pocket-book, 
and  Martha  Washington,  and  oh,  mamma ! 
sand  soap  !  "  rattled  on  Rob.  "  Sand 
Soap!" 

Little  by  little  it  came  out  that  two  or 
three  gentlemen  of  his  acquaintance,  "  told 
him  how  old  he  was,  and  looked  at  his 
new  pocket-book,  and  put  some  money  in 
it,  and  gave  him  the  knife  and  the  hair 
oil,  and  some  court  plaster,  and  a  dozen 
horse-car  tickets,  just  to  furnish  the  new 
pocket-book,  and  a  really  knife,  and  oh- 
h  -  h  the  sand  soap  !  'N'  I  kissed  'em  all 
and  thanked  'em,"  added  Rob. 

Standing  his  treasures  in  a  row  upon  the 


48          AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

end  of  the  table  he  related  the  history  of 
each,  and  gave  the  hair  oil  to  each  member 
of  the  family  in  turn.  "  But  I  do  admire 
sand  soap ! "  said  he  gently,  standing  up 
the  soap  against  the  edge  of  the  cake 
basket  with  an  air  of  such  deep  gratitude 
that  even  his  mother  could  not  have  wished 
him  to  receive  a  present  more  cordially. 

When  at  last  his  little  tired  head  was 
laid  upon  the  pillow,  and  he  had  been  re- 
minded to  make  the  proper  birthday  reso- 
lutions, he  said  sleepily,  "  Oh,  I  do  like 
my  sand  soap !  Wasn't  Mr.  Hare  a 
thoughtful  gentleman  to  give  a  boy  sand 
soap  ?  " 

And  to  this  day  his  taste  is  uncultivated 
to  that  degree,  that  a  cake  of  sand  soap 
and  a  brown  handled  jack-knife  are  more 
to  him  than  all  the  Vatican's  treasures. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


.HE  next  few  days  went  by  quite 
smoothly,  and  but  for  the  climax 
that  came  at  the  end  of  the  week 
there  might  have  been  no  general  move 
into  the  country. 

On  the  day  following  the  Fourth  of  Julyr 
a  military  company  was  formed.  At  first 
it  had  three  members,  Captain,  First  Lieu- 
tenant, and  Drummer.  By  degrees  a  Ser- 
geant was  added,  a  Second  Lieutenant  and 
a  "  Captain's  Assistant."  Several  boys. 

49 


50  AN  AVERAGE  BOY^S  VACATION. 

were  found  who  greatly  preferred  being 
privates  to  having  no  military  position  at 
all,  and  in  the  course  of  two  hours  the 
company  numbered  fifteen. 

Then  it  became  necessary  to  reorganize  ; 
for  it  will  never  do  to  chose  a  lieutenant 
from  among  little  boys  when  there  are 
larger  boys  in  the  company.  Big  boy's 
feelings  must  be  considered.  No  sooner 
was  this  company  reorganized  than  there 
was  found  to  be  in  existence  another  com- 
pany on  another  street,  also  having  big 
boys  for  officers.  It  was  said  that  the 
company  down  town  was  entirely  ready  to 
fight  the  company  up  town. 

"  Let  'em  come  on,  then  !  "  said  the  com- 
pany up  town.  And  they  did  come  on. 
The  up-town  company  was  drawn  up  on 
a  grass  plot.  The  down-town  enemy  ap- 
proached with  drums  beating  and  flags 
flying. 


MIDSUMMER  MAYING.  51 

"  All  right,  march !  "  said  the  captain  of 
the  up-town  company. 

"  All  right !  come  on  !  "  said  the  captain 
of  the  down-town  company.  "  No,  hold 
on  a  minute !  it  would  be  lots  more  fun 
to  pitch  our  tents  and  get  ready  to  fight. 
You  send  out  spies,  and  we  will." 

Agreed. 

One  tent  was  already  pitched  for  family 
use  during  the  summer,  and  as  a  matter 
of  courtesy  this  was  given  to  the  down- 
town company,  while  the  up-town  captain 
led  his  troops  behind  the  woodpile. 

Either  party  fortified  its  position,  and  a 
sergeant  was  sent  out  under  flag  of  truce, 
to  demand  a  pledge  that  the  woodpile 
should  not  be  "  flung  at  the  enemy." 

Spies  were  sent  out  to  creep  through 
the  grass  under  the  fence,  carrying  cap- 
pistols  and  pop-guns  concealed  in  their 
pockets.  Great  inconvenience  was  expe- 


52    AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

rienced.  Some  spies  were  too  small  to  get 
over  the  fence.  Others  were  too  large  to 
be  hidden  in  the  short  grass.  Two  spies, 
unaware  of  each  other's  presence,  became 
frightened  and  ran  away  upon  seeing  one 
another's  heads  pop  up  behind  the  fence.  A 
cap-pistol  in  Rob's  pocket  went  off  unexpect- 
edly and  betrayed  him  to  the  down-town  com- 
pany, who  seized  him  and  imprisoned  him  in 
a  stable  near  by.  It  was  dark  and  Rob  found 
it  lonely  under  the  wagon  where  he  had 
been  tied.  But  one  of  the  enemy  left  in 
charge  of  the  prisoner,  proved  too  weak 
to  stand  against  a  bribe  of  peanuts,  and 
creeping  in  at  a  window  untied  the  ropes 
and  led  Rob  in  safety  to  the  rear  of  the 
barn.  From  here  he  easily  reached  his 
friends. 

A  pitched  battle  had  been  the  conse- 
quence of  his  capture,  and  the  down-town 
boys,  being  twenty  to  fifteen,  utterly  routed 


MIDSUMMER  MAYING.  53 

the  up-town  boys.  A  treaty  was  made, 
and  in  fact  the  two  companies  were  joined, 
a  down-towner  being  captain,  by  virtue  of 
having  more  men  and  of  having  just  con- 
quered in  battle.  But  the  former  up-town 
captain  was  made  "  Captain's  Assistant," 
on  the  political  principle  that  "  he  had  been 
unfortunate  and  deserved  it." 

Next  day  this  new  organization  drilled. 
Next  day  it  disbanded.  "Too  warm  to 
march  in  July ;  and  the  company  was  too 
large ;  and  a  boy  twelve  years  old  can't  be 
captain  very  well,  anyway,  'cause  you  see 
he  ain't  big  enough  to  handle  all  the  fel- 
lers," explained  Rob. 

The  military  excitement  lasted  three  days. 
Meantime  Phil,  taking  no  share  in  this,  had 
remained  at  home  reading,  save  now  and 
then  when  a  game  of  base  ball  or  leap  frog 
in  some  street  near  by  had  interested  him 
for  an  hour.  On  the  morning  of  the  fourth 


54          AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

day  Rob  and  Louis  had  no  further  interest 
in  military  matters  and  Phil  was  tired  of 
reading. 

**  Let's  have  a  fire  company,"  suggested 
Phil.  "  There's  a  cart  for  hose  carriage, 
and  we  can  get  the  dinner  bell." 

"And  some  real  hose  to  play  the  water 
from,  and  I  speak  to  drive  the  hose  car- 
riage," said  Rob. 

"  Don't  let's  go  to  a  fire  ;  that's  hard 
work,"  said  Phil.  "Let's  be  a  procession. 
We've  come  from  Lewiston  to  visit  the 
Machigonnes." 

"  Whoa,  two  black  horses  I  "  cried  Rob, 
reining  in  his  imaginary  steeds.  "Don't 
go  so  fast  I  This  ain't  a  fire  !  it's  a  pro- 
cession !  " 

"I'll  be  the  nigger  behind,"  said  Louis, 
deliberately.  "  There's  always  a  nigger  be- 
hind when  processions  come  up  from  the 
depot,  V  he  wears  a  red  coat,  I  b'lieve." 


MIDSUMMER  MAYING.  55 

"  Rex  'n'  I'll  be  two  black  horses  for 
you  to  drive,"  put  in  Jamie. 

"  There  won't  be  anybody  left  for  fire- 
men," said  Phil,  rather  doubtfully.  "  Where 
are  all  the  boys  ?  " 

"  See  here,  sonny  !  "  cried  Rob,  suddenly, 
to  a  boy  going  by.  "  What  do  you  call 
your  name  ?  " 

The  boy  looked  at  him  closely  for  a  mo- 
ment, but  seeing  only  good  nature  in  the 
face  that  looked  back  at  him,  replied : 

"Fred:  why?" 

"  Well,  we  want  a  procession  of  firemen, 
and  I  thought  if  you  hadn't  anything  to 
do  just  now  p'aps  you'd  like  to  be  it,  that's 
all." 

"  Yes,  do  !  "  said  Phil ;  "  fire  companies 
are  fun." 

"  'N'  I'm  goin'  to  be  the  nigger  behind," 
said  Louis,  marching  into  position  behind 
him. 


56  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

"Don't  tread  on  the  heels  of  the  com- 
pany, then,"  said  Fred.  "  Where's  your 
hose  carriage  ?  " 

Phil  brought  the  cart  and  laid  in  it  a 
great  coil  of  hose.  Rob  brought  the  dinner 
bell.  Phil  decided  to  be  fire  engine.  Rex 
and  Jamie  drew  the  cart  and  Rob  drove. 

"  'Tisn't  any  more  fun  than  a  funeral," 
said  Phil,  decidedly,  after  five  minutes.  In 
fact,  a  plain  expression  of  opinion  showed 
that  nobody  greatly  enjoyed  it  but  the 
"nigger  behind,"  and  he  was  too  small  to 
be  allowed  an  opinion.  Fred  said  good-bye 
and  went  away 

A  hand-organ  came,  but  it  had  no  monkey 
nor  any  tambourine. 

"  It's  too  warm  to  play  Presumpscot 
Park,  I  s'pose,"  said  Phil ;  "  but  if  you 
want  to  play  I'll  be  Goldsmith  Maid  and 
beat  2.15,  I'll  bet." 

"No!"  said  Rob,  briefly. 


MIDSUMMEE  MAYING.  57 

"  I  sh'ld  like  to  ride,"  said  Phil, 
"  shouldn't  you  ?  I  sh'd  like  a  balloon. 
I  sh'd  like  a  boat.  What  can  we  do? 
Where  are  the  boys  ?  " 

For  once  Rob  could  suggest  nothing. 
Military  life  had  not  agreed  with  him  and 
the  day  was  warm.  Nobody  was  energetic. 
Life  seemed  hardly  worth  the  having  that 
morning. 

"  Let's  ask  mamma,  she  knows,"  said 
Rob,  after  they  had  kicked  the  posts  for 
several  minutes  in  silence.  And  they  went 
listlessly  up  stairs  to  their  mother's  room. 

"Mamma,"  said  Phil,  "  what  can  we  do? 
There  aren't  any  boys  round  this  morning, 
and  it's  so  warm  and  dusty ! " 

"  Why  not  play  ball  ?  " 

"  Too  warm,  and  no  fellers." 

"Fellows,"  suggested  Aunt  Marion,  sew- 
ing by  the  window. 

"  Why  not  snap  the  whip  ?  " 


58    AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

"That  takes  a  pile  of  boys." 

"  Leap-frog,  then." 

"  Too  warm,   mamma ;    you    don't   know 
how  warm  it  is." 

"Wish  we  knew  how  to  swim,"  said 
Rob. 

"  Wish  we  had  a  hoss  I "  said  Phil. 

"  Do  say  horse,  Phil !  "  implored  Aunt 
Marion. 

"  Wish  we  had  a  boat !  "  said  Rob. 

"  Wish  we  had  a  balloon,"  said  Phil. 
"Tell  you  what  I  wish,"  said  Rob, 
slowly.  "  I  wish  this  whole,  whole  house 
was  made  of  ice-cream  with  enough  cake 
outside  to  keep  it  from  melting  to  pieces. 
'N'  then  the  beds  would  be  molasses  candy, 
'n'  the  chairs  would  be  oranges,  'n'  bureaus 
would  be  bananas,  'n'  pictures  'd  be — what 
would  they  be,  Phil?" 

"  They'd  be  cannon  and  the  tables  would 
be  gunpowder,"  replied  Phil;  "  and  there'd 
have  to  be  something  for  strawberries." 


MIDSUMMER  MAYING.  59 

"  Books  could  be  those !  "  said  Rob. 

<sNo  they  couldn't,"  said  Phil,  decidedly. 
"  Books  would  be  books.  But  we  shrd 
have  to  have  something  for  base  balls  and 
foot  balls.  I  believe  I'd  rather  have  it  as 
it  is.  But  I  wish  we  had  —  something  —  to 
DO ! "  And  he  finished  up  with  a  yawn 
of  unspeakable  idleness. 

This  was  too  much  for  the  mother's 
practical  mind,  and  she  rose  energetically. 

"  We  will  have  some  kindlings  cut,"  she 
remarked.  "  When  that  is  done  you  will 
enjoy  playing." 

This  was  an  amazing  turn  of  affairs,  but 
there  was  no  help  for  it,  and  the  boys 
went  promptly  to  the  cellar.  Axes  were 
furnished  them,  kindling  was  put  before 
them,  and  they  were  set  at  work. 

An  hour  later  as  they  burst  into  her 
room,  mamma  looked  with  delight  at  the 
result  of  her  experiment. 


60     AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

"  Such  a  pile  of  kindlings,  mamma ! 
Now  can't  we  play  ?  " 

"  To  be  sure ;  and  hands  and  faces  being 
made  ready,  away  went  the  boys  with  a 
shout. 

"  Hullo  for  a  game  of  Three-old-cat ! " 
shouted  Phil,  walking  out  of  the  house  on 
his  hands. 

Two  or  three  boys  "  waiting  for  some 
more  fellers  to  come,"  greeted  him  with 
enthusiasm. 

"  Hullo  for  Scrub  !  Scrub's  better  than 
Three-old-cat ! " 

"  Scrub  it  is  then  I     One  !  " 

"  Two  !  " 

"Three!" 

"  Go  muddler,  V  work  up  I  "  cried  Louis. 

(What  the  nigger  behind  is  to  a  proces- 
sion the  muddler  is  to  a  game  of  ball.  He 
is  to  fetch  and  carry  for  the  players.) 

"  Pitcher  I " 


MIDSUMMER  MAYING.  61 

"Catcher/"     And  the  game  went  on. 

Up  stairs,  meantime,  mamma  and  Aunt 
Marion  planned  a  summer  in  which  were 
pleasantly  mingled  days  at  the  islands, 
days  in  the  country  near  town,  and  days 
at  home.  Aunt  Marion  was  quite  clear 
in  her  way  of  thinking  as  maiden  aunts 
usually  are,  but  doubts  would  present  them- 
selves to  mamma. 

"  There  certainly  are  tramps  in  the  woods 
near  town,  and  we  can't  go  to  the  islands 
every  day  for  two  months." 

"  The  boys  must  amuse  themselves  at 
home  then,"  said  Aunt  Marion,  with  the 
air  of  one  disposing  easily  of  any  difficulty. 

"But  there  are  so  few  ways  for  them 
to  amuse  themselves  without  getting  into 
mischief.  I  don't  wonder  that  they  don't 
know  what  to  do  with  every  hour  in  a  long 
day.  The  sidewalks  are  heated,  the  streets 
are  dusty,  and  there's  little  to  play  beside 


62          AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

ball-,  and  a  few  games  that  they  play  over 
and  over.  I  can't  always  know  where  they 
are,  and  I  dread  their  going  to  the  wharves. 
By  the  way,  where  are  they  now?"  For 
the  noise  of  the  ball  playing  had  stopped. 
"  Oh,  they're  somewhere  near ! "  said 
Aunt  Marion,  easily.  "I  believe  boys  can 
just  as  well  be  taught  to  take  care  of  them- 
selves as  to  be  looked  after  all  the  time. 
Phil  is  careful,  and  generally  keeps  Rob  out 
of  mischief." 

"Phil  isn't  always  with  him.  Rob  likes 
to  wander  about,  and  I  like  to  have  him, 
where  it  is  safe,  but  it  isn't  safe  here." 
And  mamma  went  down  stairs  to  look  for 
him. 

Phil  was  reading  in  the  parlor.  Louis 
was  playing  horse  with  Rex.  Nobody 
knew  anything  about  Rob.  They  had 
played  ball  till  everybody  was  tired,  and 
when  Phil  came  in  Rob  was  on  the  fence 
with  three  other  boys. 


MIDSUMMER  MAYING.  63 

Mamma  was  anxious.  An  hour  later  she 
was  still  more  anxious.  At  six  o'clock, 
Aunt  Marion,  putting  her  theories  behind 
her,  proposed  sending  for  a  policeman  to 
look  up  Rob. 

"  No,"  said  mamma.  "  Rob's  father  will 
be  at  home  directly,  and  he  will  find  him. 

I  used  to  send  a  policeman  for  Rob, 
when  he  was  smaller,  but  he  always  ap- 
peared, smiling,  just  as  the  policeman  got 
his  instructions,  and  it  grew  rather  morti- 
fying. Poor  Rob  never  does  anything  pos- 
itively bad,  so  far  as  I  can  find  out,  and 
he  always  comes  out  right ;  but  he  is  so 
venturesome,  and  so  ready  to  go  with 
everybody  that  asks  him,  that  I  am  con- 
stantly uneasy  about  him." 

"P'aps  Charlie  Ross  has  got  him,"  sug- 
gested Louis,  confusedly. 

Mamma  sat  down  by  a  window  trying 
to  read.  Footsteps,  not  Rob's,  were  heard 


64  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

approaching,  and  a  strange  boy's  face  ap- 
peared at  the  window. 

"  Be  you  Rob  Knox's  mother  ? "  asked 
the  boy,  slowly.  "  Here's  his  shoes  and 
stockin's.  'Nother  boy's  a  bringin'  'is  hat." 

Reaching  in  at  the  window  he  set  upon 
the  floor  two  lumps  of  mud  that  looked 
not  in  the  least  like  shoes,  except  for  a 
pair  of  long  dirty  lacings  that  trailed  over 
the  carpet.  He  laid  upon  these  lumps  two 
long  strings  which  the  family  knew,  through 
the  mud,  for  Rob's  stockings.  Nobody 
dared  speak  at  first. 

"Where  is  Rob?"  cried  at  last  Phil 
and  Aunt  Marion  together. 

"  Oh,  he's  a  coinin'  on  another  boy's 
back ;  be  round  here  in  a  minnit,"  an- 
swered the  boy.  Mamma  breathed. 

"  I'll  go  and  meet  him  and  hear  about 
it,"  said  Phil,  starting  off. 

Aunt  Marion  began,  "  Now  if  ever  that 
child  should  get  home  alive  — " 


MIDSUMMER  MAYING.  65 

Round  the  corner  came  a  ragged,  muddy 
little  procession.  First  the  hat.  Then  two 
or  three  ragamuffins  as  bodyguard.  Then 
a  big  boy  very  ragged,  very  freckled,  with 
traces  of  tobacco  about  his  mouth,  and 
with  poor  dirty  little  Rob  on  his  back. 
Rob's  arms  encircled  his  neck  confidingly, 
and  Rob  was  telling  his  adventures  to  Phil, 
who  walked  beside  him.  Phil  kept  at  a 
safe  distance,  but  Rob's  bearer  was  cov- 
ered with  muddy  drippings,  and  it  was 
quite  as  well  that  he  wore  no  collar,  for 
Rob's  embrace  would  have  ruined  it. 

"  Been  diggin'  clams  over  to  the  Dump," 
said  Rob,  promptly,  in  reply  to  the  ques- 
tion written  on  both  faces  in  the  doorway. 
"  Boy  said  he  knew  where  there  was  some 
mayflowers  over  there,  but  he  wasn't  a 
very  nice  feller,  and  I  got  tired  of  him 
and  went  to  digging  clams  for  an  old 
woman.  I  helped  her  a  lot :  but  after  she 


66  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

went  away  I  "  got  in,"  and  I  don't  know 
how  I  ever  should  have  got  out  if  it 
hadn't  been  for  this  boy.  He  was  real 
good  to  me,  mamma,"  said  Rob,  looking 
at  him  gratefully.  "He's  a  nice  feller*,  I 
tell  you !  " 

Little  by  little  these  outlines  were  filled 
in  by  the  boys  looking  on.  They  seemed 
quite  as  much  pleased  with  Rob  as  he 
with  them,  but  Rob's  politeness  to  them 
was  rather  einbarassing. 

"  Good  evening ! "  he  said  at  length, 
with  great  dignity,  from  out  his  coating 
of  mud. 

"  Bye  !  "  said  the  boys,  bashfully  ;  and 
after  a  short  conversation  with  the  grateful 
mamma,  they  went  away  in  high  glee. 

"  Rob's  mishaps  always  end  in  a  tri- 
umphal procession,"  said  Aunt  Marion. 
And  so  they  do. 

Phil    was    greatly  interested    in    details 


MIDSUMMER  MAYING.  67 

of  this  expedition,  and  Louis  listened  en- 
vying and  admiring. 

"  But  you're  awful  muddy,"  said  Louis. 
"  'N'  I  s'pose  p'aps  you'll  get  a  whipping 
Anyway  you  won't  have  any  cake  for 
supper." 

Mamma  talked  long  and  seriously  with 
Rob  that  night,  and  the  little  fellow  seemed, 
greatly  impressed. 

"  I  wish  I's  a  good  scholar  like  Phil,'" 
moaned  Rob.  "  Then  I  shouldn't  roan* 
about  so.  I  don't  see  why  I  don't  like' 
to  read.  I  don't  see  why  Phil  don't  keep* 
me  with  him.  I'm  an  awful  boy." 

Mamma  pulled  him  out  of  this  slough' 
of  despond,  and  remarked  cheerily,  "Now 
you  may  go  down  early  to-morrow  morning; 
and  get  Mrs.  Finn  to  come  and  clean  these: 
clothes." 

"She  can't  come,"  said  Rob,  decidedly.. 
"  The  baby's  dead.  They  buried  it  this, 
morning,  and  I  drove  the  hearse." 


68  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

Mamma  was  disheartened  at  the  news 
of  this  mode  of  entertainment,  but  put 
off  comment,  and  Rob  went  placidly  to 
sleep. 

Within  an  hour  it  was  decided,  in  family 
council,  to  go  into  the  country  with  the 
boys. 


CHAPTER  V. 

S'PRISING    MAMMA. 

morning    Louis    walked    into 
Aunt  Marion's  room  where  she  was 
writing,  and  laid  his  hand  upon  her 
arm. 

"  How  does  my  hair  look  ?  "  he  asked. 
"  -Beautifully,"     replied    Aunt    Marion ; 
"did  you  brush  it  yourself?" 

"  Yes'm,"  answered  Louis  ;  "  did  it  with 
my   ringer    nails ;    it's    just   as  good    as   a 
comb    and    brush.      Are    you    writing    to 
69 


70     AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

Grandma  that  we  are  going  to  Uncle 
Tim's,  and  then  going  over  to  see  her  ? " 
He  moved  his  hand  from  her  arm  as  if  to 
encourage  the  idea. 

"Yes,"  said  Aunt  Marion. 
"I'm  quadrillions  glad,"  said  Louis, 
dreamily  passing  his  hand  up  and  down 
through  a  column  of  shining  dust  which  a 
sunbeam  had  built  up  in  the  room.  "  Is 
the  sunshine  green  up  there,  s'pose  ?  Rob 
says  everything  is  green  up  country." 

This  point  was  explained,  and  he  said 
uneasily  :  "  Phil  says  there  are  uncles  in 
the  country  that  don't  have  horses." 

This  was  acknowledged  to  be  true. 

"Have  I  got  any  such  uncles  as  that?" 
he  asked,  with  a  touch  of  contempt  for 
the  possible  uncle. 

Aunt  Marion  assured  him  that  he  had 
not. 

"  Have  any  of  my  uncles  got  a  two- 
seated  horse  and  buggy?" 


S'PBISING  MAMMA.  71 

Yes,  there  certainly  was  a  two-seated 
buggy. 

"  I'm  quadrillions  glad  of  that,"  said 
Louis,  again,  and  lie  sat  down  on  the  floor, 
while  the  sunbeam  sifted  its  light  into  his 
eyes.  The  writing  went  on.  Presently 
Rob  burst  in  at  the  door. 

"Boss  news  isn't  it?"  he  shouted. 
"  Going  next  week !  Where's  Phil  ?  Go- 
ing down  town  to  have  my  hair  cut ! 
Come,  little  one,  want  to  go?" 

Louis  did  want  to  go,  and  mamma  was 
willing.  It  gave  Rob  a  sense  of  responsi- 
bility, she  thought,  to  have  Louis  go  with 
him  sometimes,  and  this  was  a  sense  that 
Rob  sadly  needed.  So  Louis'  hair  was 
carefully  brushed,  and  his  hat  set  straight 
upon  his  head ;  and  Rob  was  charged  over 
and  over  again  to  take  good  care  of  Louis, 
and  to  come  straight  home  from  the  bar- 
bers. 


72          AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

"  Can't  I  have  my  hair  cut  too !  "  asked 
Louis. 

"  Yes,  before  we  go  away,"  said  mamma. 
Rob  was  waiting  outside  the  door,  but  it 
proved  that  he  heard  this. 

Mamma  kissed  them  both.  Rob  gath- 
ered Louis'  four  fingers  carefully  into  his 
own  hand,  and  tucked  the  thumb  in  after 
them  as  though  he  would  never  let  them 
go.  Louis  resisted.  Couldn't  a  boy  most 
five  years  old,  walk  alone  he  should  like  to 
know?  This  difficulty  being  settled,  they 
walked  off  together  in  great  harmony. 
They  stopped  once  to  ride  on  a  velocipede  ; 
once  to  see  a  man  measure  some  milk ; 
once  to  examine  the  fine  points  of  a  large 
dog ;  once  to  watch  two  dancing  figures 
in  a  toy  shop  ;  and  once  before  some  top- 
boots  that  Louis  liked  very  much,  and 
w'anted  Rob  to  buy  for  him. 

"  I'd  buy   'em  in  a  minute,"   said   Rob, 


S'PKISING  MAMMA.  73 

"  but  I've  only  got  half  a  dollar,  and  it'll 
take  that  to  get  our  hair  cut." 

"  You  haven't  got  the  say  of  having  my 
hair  cut,"  objected  Louis ;  "  and  mamma 
didn't  say  so." 

"That's  so,  but  I'll  tell  you  a  secret," 
said  Rob.  "  I'm  goin'  to  have  it  cut  to 
s'prise  mamma.  She's  fearful  busy,  and 
now  she's  got  all  my  muddy  things  to 
clean  'cause  the  Finn  baby's  dead.  Three 
boys  make  a  lot  of  work,  and  I'm  goin' 
to  save  mamma  some  trouble.  I'm  plenty 
big  enough  to  take  care  of  you,  and  she 
won't  have  to  come  down  town  to  get  your 
hair  cut,  if  we  have  it  done  now.  We'll 
have  a  shave.  It's  fun,  you  bet,  and 
nobod}7-  ever  knows  whether  your  hair's 
combed  for's  much  as  a  month,  till  it  grows 
out  again.  I'll  fix  it!" 

They  climbed  the  stairs,  and  Rob  asked 
the  barber  in  whose  hands  he  had  often 


74  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

been  before,   "  how  much   he   sh'd   ask  to 
cut  two  clips." 

"  Fifty  cents,"  said  the  barber. 

"Js  that  cheap,  do  you  think?"  asked 
Rob,  candidly. 

"  Consider'ble  cheap,"  answered  the  bar- 
ber. 

"Well,  then,  we'll  take  two  of  'em," 
ordered  Rob,  mounting  the  chair.  "  I'll 
have  the  first  go  !  " 

"  Did  your  mother  tell  you  to  come  ?  " 
asked  the  barber,  doubtfully. 

"Don't  I  always  come  alone  to  have 
my  hair  cut  ?  "  asked  Rob,  in  reply. 

So  the  barber  clipped  till  Rob's  head 
came  out  smooth  and  round  like  a  croquet 
ball.  Rob  was  delighted. 

"  Come,  little  boy,"  said  the  barber  to 
Louis ;  "  there's  others  a  waitin',  and  we 
must  finish  up  this  job." 

Louis  climbed  into  the  chair. 


S'PEISING  MAMMA.  75 

"  Give  him  a  good  clip  now,"  said  Rob  ; 
"  it  won't  have  to  be  done  again  so  soon  ;  " 
and  the  soft  hair  fell  down  all  over  the 
little  pink  face.  Louis  pressed  his  lips 
tightly  together  and  shut  his  eyes. 

"  Don't  wink  now,"  cried  Rob  ;  "  tisn't 
safe." 

Louis  had  not  thought  of  winking  till 
this  remark  was  made.  Then  he  opened 
his  eyes  to  see  why  he  mustn't  wink. 

"  Shut  'em !  "  cried  the  barber,  but  it 
was  too  late ;  Louis  screamed,  and  rubbed 
his  eyes  furiously  with  both  fists. 

Such  a  commotion !  Rob  was  greatly 
excited.  He  caught  by  one  corner,  the 
great  cloth  that  covered  Louis  from  his 
chin  to  his  feet,  and  gave  it  a  shake  that 
nearly  filled  Louis'  mouth  with  loose  flying 
hairs.  Then  he  dusted  him,  chair  and  all, 
with  a  great  feather  brush.  Then  he  caught 
both  his  hands  and  shouted:  "You're  the 


76  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

boss  boy  not  to  cry !  I'm  going  to  buy  you 
some  peanuts  with  my  half  dollar !  P'aps 
hadn't  I  better  go  for  a  doctor  ?  "  he  added, 
seeing  Louis  choking. 

But  the  barber  seeing  the  situation  at 
once,  had  dusted  Louis  judiciously,  and 
now  clearing  away  the  hairs  as  best  he 
might,  washed  the  little  face  and  put  the 
poor  little  Louis  up  again  into  the  high 
chair.  He  also  put  Rob  in  a  chair  with 
injunctions  to  be  quiet. 

Not  a  word  had  Louis  uttered  in  all  this 
time,  nor  a  cry  after  that  called  out  by  his 
first  astonishment  and  pain.  He  rarely 
cried  unless  frightened. 

"  I  never  knew  you's  like  that,  before !  " 
said  Rob,  admiring  him.  "Why  didn't 
you  cry,  anyway  ?  " 

"  S'pose  I'm  a  baby  ?  "  said  Louis. 

"  You're  a  hero  ! "  said  the  barber.  "  Tell 
your  mother  so,  but  don't  talk  now.  I  shall 
be  done  in  a  minute." 


S'PRISING  MAMMA.  77 

"  Mamma  said  we  might  all  go  into  the 
army  if  we'd  go  as  hero's  or  something  — 
volunteers,  I  believe  it  was,"  said  Rob,  in 
no  way  silenced.  "  Mamma'll  be  so  glad 
Louis  is  goin'  to  be  one.  Guess  I  shall 
buy  you  some  bananas  with  my  half  dollar, 
Louis ;  they're  better  than  peanuts.  How 
much  is  the  hair  going  to  be  though  ?  "  he 
asked,  brought  to  his  feet  by  the  thought 
that  he  could  not  spend  his  half-dollar 
twice. 

"  Half  a  dollar,"   said  the  barber  again. 

"  Sure  enough ! "  said  Rob,  sadly.  "  Then 
I  ain't  got  any  half  dollar  to  spend." 

"  'Twasn't  to  spend,  anyway,"  said  the 
practical  Louis.  "  It  was  mamma's  to  cut 
the  hair  with." 

"  Sure  enough  !  "  said  Rob,  again,  "  and 
she  told  me  to  bring  back  the  change." 

"  There  isn't  any  change,"  said  the 
barber. 


78  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

"  Oh,  well,  she  thought  there  would  be," 
said  Rob.  "I'm  havin'  Louis'  hair  cut  to 
s'prise  her,  and  save  her  the  trouble  of 
coming  down.  She  don't  know  'bout  that." 

The  barber's  hand  stopped  short  in  the 
midst  of  a  flourish  with  his  brush.  "  What 
do  you  mean,  sir?"  he  asked.  Rob  ex- 
plained. 

"  Well,  now,"  said  the  barber,  "  are  you 
going  t6  tell  her  about  it?  going  to  tell 
her  the  truth  about  it  ?  " 

"  Well,  I  guess  so  !  "  said  Rob,  indig- 
nantly ;  "  what  do  you  s'pose  I'm  going  to 
tell  her.  Besides,  she'll  be  delighted,"  he 
added  a  little  doubtfully,  looking  at  Louis' 
smooth  shaven  head.  "  It  is  a  close  clip, 
though,  ain't  it?"  ' 

Louis  understood  quite  as  well  as  Rob, 
the  expenditure  of  the  half  dollar,  and  the 
consequent  loss  of  the  peanuts,  so  he  said 
nothing  when  Rob  gave  up  the  bit  of  scrip 


S'PBISING  MAMMA.  79 

which  the  little  fellows  had  spent  several 
times  in  imagination.  The  great  blue  eyes 
followed  it  closely,  however,  and  Louis 
drew  a  long  breath  as  the  barber's  fingers 
closed  over  it.  But  lo !  the  barber  gave 
him  a  crisp  new  "  ten  cent  scrap,"  with 
which  to  buy  peanuts. 

"  Half  of  it  is  for  you,"  he  said  to  Rob. 
"I  guess  you'll  do  this  time,  but  you'd 
better  not  surprise  your  mother  too  often. 
Most  folks  don't  like  surprises." 

The  scrip  was  soon  spent,  and  the  paper 
bag  of  peanuts  emptied  its  contents  into 
two  little  pockets.  The  two  boys  saun- 
tered up  the  street  happy  in  their  feast, 
but  Louis'  hat  slipped  about  a  good  deal 
as  he  walked. 

"  Guess  it  must  be  Phil's ;  you've  got 
the  wrong  hat  for  certain.  Mine's  too  big, 
too  !  "  Rob  discovered  this  suddenly. 
"  But  it  isn't  so  bad  as  yours.  Mamma'll 
fix  'em." 


80  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

"  Don't  have  peanuts  much  up  country," 
said  Rob,  moving  on  and  cracking  a  large 
nut ;  "  but  there's  lots  of  other  things. 
There's  boss  green  apples  —  but  mamma 
don't  let  us  eat  'em ;  and  there's  choke 
cherries — pucker  your  mouth  all  up;  and 
there's  brakes  —  pull  'em  up  and  the  roots 
are  splendid." 

"  What  else  ?  "  said  Louis,  as  Rob  paused. 

"  Oh,  we  go  fishing  down  in  the  brook 
by  grandma's  house.  You  can't  go,  you'll 
drown  if  you  do ;  but  you  can  go  camping 
out  with  us.  We're  going  to  have  a  bear 
camp  this  summer  and  trap  bears." 

"  Bears ! "  repeated  Louis,  in  alarm. 
"  Are  you  big  enough  ?  " 

"Oh,  yes!"  said  Rob,  "plenty  big 
enough;  and  Phil  is  bigger." 

"  Have  you  got  a  gun  ?  " 

"No;  but  we're  going  to  ask  papa  to 
buy  us  one." 


S'PRISING  MAMMA.  81 

"  Got  a  tent  ?  " 

"  No ;  but  we're  going  to  ask  him  to 
buy  us  a  tent  too." 

"I'll  bet  he  won't!" 

"I'll  bet  he  will!" 

"Shall  you  take  a  man  with  you?'r 

"  Pooh,  no  indeed !  " 

"Take  papa's  sword?" 

•'  P'aps  so ;  I  guess  we'd  better." 

"''LI  mamma  go?" 

"  No  ;  but  we're  going  to  camp  on  Grey 
mountain,  right  near  the  house,  and  she'd 
hear  us  if  anything  happened.  We  sh'd 
holler,  you  know." 

"  Well,  I  shall  stay  with  mamma,"  said 
Louis,  decidedly. 

"  Yes  I  would ;  you're  pretty  small." 

Great   cracking  of  peanuts. 

"  Did  ever  you  see  a  bear  ?  "  asked  Louis,, 
after  sometime. 

"Not  a  live  one.  There's  a  stuffed  one, 
down  town." 


82    AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

"A  stuffed  bear  ain't  anything." 

"  Oh,  yes,  it's  a  good  chance  to  look  at 
'em,  and  make  up  your  mind  where  you'll 
hit  when  there's  a  live  one  to  kill." 

Another  pause  and   cracking  of  peanuts. 

"  It'll  be  awful  lonesome,  Rob." 

"  Well  —  I  know  it ;  but  you  see  we 
shall  go  right  to  sleep." 

"  Rob,  it'll  be  awful  dark  before  you  do 
go  to  sleep." 

"  Well  —  I  know  it !  P'aps  we  shan't 
go  up  there  to  sleep  !  P'aps  we  shall  just 
go  and  spend  the  day  after  all !  We  don't 
know  certain  as  there  are  any  bears.  And 
you  know  we  haven't  got  any  gun  —  nor 
any  tent.  Hullo  !  there's  a  boy  't'  goes  to 
my  school !  He's  going  to  stop  and  speak 
to  us  a  minute.  He's  a  real  big  boy." 

So  they  stopped.  Rob  and  his  acquaint- 
ance, whose  name  he  did  not  know,  en- 
tered into  conversation.  The-boy-'t-goes-to- 


MAMMA.  83 

Rob's-school  said  Rob  hadn't  darst  to  vorlt 
that  post,  he'd  bet. 

Rob  vaulted  that  post,  and  all  the  posts 
in  the  vicinity. 

"  Bet  you  hadn't  darst  to  vorlt  that 
fence  there,"  said  the  boy,  sure  that  this 
was  quite  too  much  to  be  attempted. 

Rob  looked  at  Louis.  "  Will  you  wait 
here  till  I  come  back,  Louis  ?  "  he  asked. 
Then  his  conscience  smote  him.  "  I  can't 
leave  him,"  he  said  to  the  boy ;  "  he's  such 
a  little  feller!  'N'  he's  my  brother." 

"Hoh  — h  — h!  stumped  yer ;  knew  I 
could !  staggered  yer ;  knew  I  had  !  hadn't 
darst  to  after  all;  knew  yer  hadn't !  "  cried 
the  nice  boy. 

This  was  more  than  Rob  could  endure. 

"  Will  you  stay  here  till  I  come  back, 
Louis?"  he  asked  again,  putting  his  hand 
on  Louis'  shoulder  assuringiy.  "  I'll  give 
you  all  the  peanuts  I've  got  left,  and  I 


84          AN  AVERAGE  BOY*S  VACATION. 

shan't  be  gone  a  minute.  Sit  right  here," 
— standing  Louis  with  his  back  against  a 
lamp  post  on  the  corner  —  "and  watch 
me  go  over  the  fence." 

Louis  sat  down  on  the  curbstone,  and 
Rob  went  over  the  fence  at  a  leap.  The 
nice  boy  caught  the  peanuts  and  ran  away. 
He  was  too  large  for  Louis  to  think  of 
following  him,  but  he  decided,  "  Rob'll  fix 
him,"  and  went  on  eating  the  peanuts  from 
his  pockets,  his  own  original  share.  Rob 
did  not  appear. 

"He's    'comin'     round     another     way," 
thought  Louis.     But  Rob   did  not  come. 

Nobody  noticed  the  little  fellow  sitting 
quietly  under  the  lamp  post;  but  his  pea- 
nuts were  soon  gone,  and  he  mourned  for 
the  lost  handful.  The  sun  grew  warm, 
and  still  Rob  didn't  come.  "Where  is 
he  ? "  thought  Louis ;  "  why  don't  he 
come?" 


S'PRISING  MAMMA.  85 

Louis  began  to  draw  long  breaths,  now 
and  then.  He  rose  to  his  feet  and  stood 
on  tiptoe,  but  he  could  see  nothing.  He 
went  up  to  the  fence  over  which  Rob  had 
jumped  so  easily,  and  stood  on  tiptoe  trying 
to  look  over.  His  forehead  came  just  to 
a  knothole,  and  his  hat  fell  off  over  and 
over  again.  There  was  nothing  to  stand 
on  that  would  bring  his  eyes  up  to  the 
knothole,  and  poor  Louis  felt  himself  to 
be  so  little !  Then  he  lifted  up  his  voice 
and  called,  "  Rob  —  lie !  "  No  answer. 
"Rob!  Roll  Rob  — Me!" 

Louis'  voice  was  loud  and  full,  but  there 
came  no  reply.  If  Rob  could  only  have 
seen  the  little  startled  face,  with  its  flushed 
cheeks  and  great,  solemn,  blue  eyes  ! 

"  What  is  the  matter,  little  boy  ?  "  asked 
a  gentleman  going  by. 

"  Do  you  see  any  boy  over  in  that 
place?"  asked  Louis,  steadying  his  voice. 
"  He  said  he'd  be  back  in  a  minute." 


86  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  gentleman  ;  "  there  are 
several  boys  playing  ball  over  by  the 
fence." 

44  Is  any  of  'em  Rob  ?  " 

44  Who  is  Rob  ?  " 

44  He's  my  brother ;  he  said  he'd  be  back 
in  a  minute." 

44  Well,  there's  a  boy  looking  on  to  see 
the  others  play.  That  is  Rob,  probably. 
I  guess  he  will  be  back  in  a  minute."  And 
the  gentleman  went  on. 

44 1  wish  I  could  see  'em  play !  "  said 
Louis  to  himself,  when  he  was  alone  again. 
41  'N'  the  sun's  so  hot !  Ro  -  o  -  o  -  bie  I " 
he  called  again.  No  answer.  Louis  sat 
down  under  the  fence  and  waited  again. 

44 1  s'pose  he's  forgot  me,"  he  thought 
sadly,  44  'n'  I  don't  know  the  way  home," 

The  brave  little  face  had  shown  no  signs 
of  tears  as  yet,  but  now  the  little  heart 
swelled  and  swelled,  and  grew  so  heavy 


S'PEISING  MAMMA.  87 

that  Louis  felt  sure  that  the  lump  in  his 
bosom  was  large  enough  to  burst. 

"  I  s'pose  it's  peanuts,"  he  thought  de- 
liberately. "  I'll  bet  I'm  going  to  die,  I've 
eaten  so  many.  I  sh'd  think  inamma'd 
come  !  "  Then  he  drew  his  knees  close  up 
to  his  face,  put  the  back  of  his  hands  on 
his  knees,  put  his  face  down  in  the  little 
dirty  hands,  and  sobbed  great  quick,  chok- 
ing sobs. 

"  Why,  Louis,  what's  the  matter  ? 
Where's  Rob  ?  "  Phil's  quick  step  came 
near,  Phil's  hands  raised  Louis'  head,  and 
Phil's  eyes  smiled  into  Louis'. 

"  Rob  forgot,"  answered  Louis,  brighten- 
ing from  the  roots  of  his  shaven  hair  to 
the  tip  of  his  chin  ;  "  V  I  didn't  know  the 
way  home."  Phil  put  his  hat  straight, 
wiped  his  eyes,  brushed  off  the  peanut 
shells,  and  smoothed  him  out  generally. 

"  Where  did  Rob  leave  you  ?  " 


88     AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

"  Oh,  right  here ;  I've  been  here  ever 
since.  He's  gone  over  the  fence  a  minute ; 
he'll  be  right  back.  Let's  go  home  now, 
quick." 

"  No,  we  must  have  Rob  first.  I'll  go 
after  him.  Afraid  to  stay  here  till  I  come 
back?" 

"  Oh,  no  !  "  said  Louis,  in  great  surprise  ; 
"  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  I  was  big  enough 
to  go  bear  hunting  with  you  and  Rob." 

Down  he  sat  again  under  the  fence. 
"  He'll  come  back ;  he  always  does,"  said 
Louis,  with  significant  emphasis ;  and  he 
did  come  back  at  once  with  dejected  Rob 
in  tow. 

"  I  didn't  know  it  had  been  any  time," 
said  Rob.  "  I  vaulted  the  fence  to  let  a 
boy  't  goes  to  our  school  know  't  I  could. 
He  said  I  couldn't,  V  when  I  got  over 
there  some  fellers  were  .playing  ball,  so  I 
just  waited  a  minute.  I  forgot  'bout 
Louis." 


S'PEISING  MAMMA.  89 

Dinner  was  waiting  when  they  reached 
home,  but  an  investigation  was  promptly 
commenced,  and  the  smallest  details  came 
out. 

Mamma  never  told  anybody  but  Rob, 
quite  all  she  thought  about  Louis's  shaven 
head. 

"  Papa  says  it  looks  like  a  pig  skin  ball," 
sobbed  Rob,  rubbing  his  hand  over  Louis' 
head  that  night,  when  they  were  snugly  laid 
away  in  bed ;  "  'n'  I'm  awful  sorry ;  's  true 
's  I  live  I  only  meant  to  save  you  the  trouble 
of  going  down  town,  you  know.  I'm  glad 
we're  goin'  up  country ;  I'm  always  a  good 
boy  up  there." 


CHAPTER    VI. 

HELPING  PACK. 

J3E  birds  never  sang  so  sweetly  as 
on   that    morning    when   the    boys 
went  into    the    country,    and    the 
sun  never  shone  so  brightly. 

The  packing  was  done.  There  were  guns 
and  harnesses  and  balls  and  soldier  things, 
and  there  was  a  bat ;  not  because  any  of 
these  things  would  be  especially  needed 
but  because  the  boys  were  anxious  to  take 
them,  and  mamma  thought  it  a  harmless 
indulgence. 

The  only  trouble  from  them  was,  in  pack- 

90 


HELPING  PACK.  91 

ing,  the  night  before,  when  all  the  boys 
must  help.  A  nice  little  box  of  collars 
and  neckties  was  turned  wholly  upside 
down  by  the  insertion  of  a  top  and  a  base 
ball.  The  mark  of  a  gun  was  left  upon  a 
fresh  muslin  dress.  A  paper  boat  was 
packed  and  unpacked,  and  fitted  into  one 
corner  after  another  till  there  seemed  to 
be  dozens  of  paper  boats  exactly  alike. 
The  trunks  bristled  with  cap  pistols.  If 
mamma  ventured  to  turn  her  back  upon 
the  scene  for  a  moment,  a  brilliant  idea 
seized  one  of  the  three  boys  as  to  the 
packing  of  some  piece  of  personal  prop- 
erty. Conveyed  to  the  others,  this  idea 
was  no  sooner  understood  than  carried  out, 
resulting  in  a  degree  of  confusion  that 
passed  the  imagination  of  even  Aunt 
Marion. 

Aunt   Marion    hovered  about   here   and 
there,   discouraged  in  her    efforts   to   help 


92  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

by  the  fact  that  whatever  she  put  down 
was  speedily  taken  up  and  put  somewhere 
else,  by  one  of  the  three  little  people  who 
were  also  trying  to  help. 

There  was  great  inquiry  after  Louis'  red 
stockings.  They  must  have  got  into  the 
wash  by  mistake,  mamma  said. 

"No,"  persisted  Amy,  the  servant  girl, 
quite  as  accurate  in  her  sphere  of  knowledge 
as  the  greatest  of  mathematicians  in  his ; 
"  she  had  seen  the  stockings  lying  about  after 
the  wash  was  all  gathered  up.  But  Louis 
had  had  most  all  his  things  packing  them 
one  time  and  another." 

The  trunks  were  searched  for  the  red 
stockings.  Behind  bureaus,  under  beds, 
up  stairs  and  down  stairs  they  looked,  but 
no  red  stockings.  Louis'  coats  and  vests 
and  trowsers  were  shaken,  and  even  their 
pockets  were  overhauled,  but  nothing  came 
of  it. 


HELPING  PACK.  93 

"  He's  had  his  knapsack,"  said  Amy 
"  and  he  says  to  me,  '  I  ain't  goin'  up 
country,  Amy,  after  all ;  —  I'm  goin'  to 
Boston,  to  the  battle  of  Lookout  Mountain. 
So  now,  very  likely,  he's  got  the  stockings 
in  his  knapsack." 

As  usual,  Amy  was  right.  In  the  little 
leather  knapsack,  hidden  away  under  a 
scarlet  cap  and  gay  epaulets,  lay  the  miss- 
ing stockings,  folded,  and  wrapped  in  a 
tiny  blue  vest. 

"  Now,"  said  mamma,  decidedly,  "  here 
is  the  end  of  this.  I  shall  carry  away  all 
the  paper  boats  and  lassoes  in  the  house, 
and  nothing  that  we  need  to  use  or  to 
wear." 

So  Aunt  Marion  swept  all  the  boys  to 
bed  with  alluring  promises  for  the  morn- 
ing, while  mamma  examined  the  packing, 
and  thinned  out  various  things  that  could 
never  be  missed.  Her  sympathetic  fingers, 


94     AN  AVEEAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

however,  left  much  that  Aunt  Marion 
would  have  tossed  aside.  "  He  would  be 
so  disappointed  not  to  find  this  ;  "  or,  "  he 
plays  so  often  with  that,"  was  her  thought ; 
till,  after  all  her  careful  supervision,  the 
array  of  picture-books,  sticks  and  strings, 
and  bits  of  paper  and  tin  and  wood  in 
that  baggage  would  have  unsettled  the 
mind  of  any  spinster  who  had  chanced 
upon  one  of  the  trunks  by  mistake. 

But,  as  I  said,  the  sunniest  of  morn- 
ings had  come,  and  the  trunks,  packed  and 
locked  and  strapped,  stood  at  the  head 
of  the  stairs.  The  boys  rode  on  horseback 
upon  them,  and  played  steamboat  and  horse- 
car  and  steam  cars  with  them,  putting  on 
brakes,  and  letting  off  steam,  and  shouting 
out  stations  from  Conway  to  New  Orleans. 

Excitements  were  by  no  means  rare  in 
this  lively  household,  but  unless  we  except 
Christmas  Day  and  the  Fourth  of  July, 


HELPING  PACK.  95 

this  was  far  the  most  exciting  day  of  the 
year. 

It  was  quite  impossible  to  dress  without 
half  a-  dozen  boys  of  different  sizes,  to 
assist  at  the  toilet.  Phil,  Rob  and  Louis, 
had  each  his  particular  friends  who  must 
hear  of  the  proposed  summer  doings,  and 
there  seemed  to  have  been  nothing  to  tell 
until  this  morning.  Bear-hunting,  kite-fly- 
ing, haying,  fishing,  berrying  —  all  were 
discussed  as  much  in  detail  as  excitement 
would  allow.  All  the  new  suits  had  been 
looked  over  and  commented  upon,  by  all 

• 

the  boys  within  easy  distance.  Nearly  all 
the  boys  in  the  street  had  been  up  stairs 
to  "  to  see  the  trunks,"  though  why  they 
should  want  to  see  them,  they  themselves 
would  have  been  puzzled  to  say.  Louis, 
Carl,  Rex  and  Jamie,  marched  yip  stairs 
in  a  line,  and  walked  several  times  around 
the  trunks  without  saying  a  word.  To 


96  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

have  seen  their  intense  interest  you  would 
have  supposed  all  a  boy's  ideal  "  up  coun- 
try "  to  be  contained  in  those  trunks  — 
sunny  sweet  air,  and  brooks,  and  fish,  and 
bears,  and  dirt,  and  shovels. 

They  tugged  at  the  straps,  and  "  lifted," 
separately  and  all  together,  and  produced 
no  more  effect  than  birds  pecking  at  a 
tree. 

Phil's  fishing  pole  stood  in  a  corner,  and 
each  of  the  four  "  lifted  "  that.  Rob's  pole 
stood  in  another  corner,  and  each  of  the 
four  lifted  that.  This  was  done  silently 
for  the  most  part,  till  they  reached  Rob's 
fishing  pole,  when  Rex  asked : 

"Yis  is  Wob's  pole,  ain't  it?" 

"  Yes,  why?" 

"  Oh,  'tause  it's  bwoten,  I  knew  it  was 
his." 

"  Yes,  but  when  his  things  are  broken  he 
uses  Phil's,  you  know." 


HELPING  PACK.  97 

"  Is  yat  Wobb's  fissin  basket,  too  ?  " 
asked  Rex,  looking  into  the  basket  as  if 
uncertain  what  he  might  find  there. 

"  Yes,  Rob's  is  broken,  but  he'll  use 
Phil's  basket  just  the  same."  This  had 
come  to  be  an  established  fact  in  the  family 
arrangements. 

The  four  youngsters  were  sensible  that 
something  was  about  to  happen,  and  could 
not  set  themselves  at  play  as  usual ;  so  they 
roamed  through  the  house  from  room  to* 
room,  taking  whatever  offered  in  the  way 
of  amusement. 

"  Going  to  take  the  birds  ?  "  asked  Jamie,, 
stopping  before  the  cage  and  putting  his. 
fingers  between  its  wires. 

No,  the  birds  weren't  going.  Sixteen; 
little  fingers  crooked  all  at  once  between, 
the  wires  set  the  birds  in  a  flutter. 

Thirty-two  fingers  crooked  between  the- 
wires  drove  the  birds  to  the  very  top  of 


98  AN  AVERAGE  BOY^S  VACATION. 

the  cage  for  shelter,  and  there  was  no 
further  entertainment  to  be  had  out  of 
this. 

"  Funny,  ain't  yey  ?  "  said  Rex  ;  and  the 
procession  moved. 

"  See  my  garden  ! ''  suggested  Louis,  hold- 
ing to  the  window  sill  and  leaning  far  out 
to  look  at  the  sandy  yard  whose  every 
inch  the  other  three  knew  as  well  as  he 
did.  Perhaps  in  the  light  of  going  up 
country,  it  might  have  gained  something 
of  beauty.  "  There's  billions  of  beans  in 
my  garden,  I  s'pose." 

"No  tind  of  a  darden,"  said  Rex,  criti- 
cally ;  but  he,  too,  caught  at  the  window 
sill,  pulled  himself  up  till  he  stood  upon 
tiptoe  on  the  mopboards,  and  leaned  far 
out. 

So  did  Jamie. 

So  did  Carl. 

The    merciful    providence    that    watches 


HELPING  PACK.  99 

over  boys,  kept  them  from  falling  out  till 
Aunt  Marion,  sure  from  the  silence  that 
something  was  wrong,  and  coming  to  look 
for  them,  pulled  them  in  one  by  one  with- 
out ceremony. 

"  Come  in  my  room  and  play  awhile," 
proposed  Aunt  Marion,  appalled  by  the 
thought  of  what  might  happen  if  they 
should  be  left  to  themselves,  in  their  pres- 
ent lawless  state  of  mind. 

They  took  possession  of  Aunt  Marion's 
room,  accordingly ;  played  fight  with  her 
hair  brush  and  crimping-pins ;  tried  on  her 
hat ;  made  a  tent  with  her  umbrella ;  played 
horse  with  her  shawl  strap ;  built  a  fort 
with  her  pillows ;  played  George  Washing- 
ton with  her  riding  hat  and  feather ;  set 
up  a  boot  and  shoe  store  in  the  closet ; 
and  were  about  to  collect  the  vases  from 
her  mantel  to  play  "  old  clo'es  man  "  with. 
But  at  this  point  Aunt  Marion  rebelled, 


100  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

and  dismissed  them  all  with  a  "  tip "  of 
perfumery  on  each  wee  pocket-handker- 
chief. 

"  Now  we  can  go  and  smell  it  all  out," 
said  Louis,  contentedly,  as  the  door  shut 
behind  them. 

Mamma's  room  came  next. 

"  No  fun  here  :  everything's  packed  !  " 
they  decided,  after  making  the  tour  of  the 
room,  and  the  little  brigands  marched 
through  the  hall  again. 

"  Bet  a  fish-hook  you  fellers  can't  slide 
down  the  banisters !  "  cried  Rob,  appearing 
from  somewhere. 

Mamma  heard  this  suggestion,  and  started 
at  once  to  interfere ;  but  the  four,  as  one 
boy,  had  scrambled  to  the  banisters,  and 
down  they  went  in  quick  succession. 

One  —  two  —  three  !  Rob  screamed  with 
delight,  and  all  the  four  shouted  in  reply, 
but  mamma,  foreseeing  the  catastrophe, 


HELPING  PACK.  101 

reached  the  foot  of  the  stairs  just  as 
Carl,  fourth  in  the  great  slide,  came 
flying  over  the  heads  of  the  others,  and 
struck  the  floor  with  a  dull  thud. 

The  three  first  comers  sat  perfectly  still 
on  the  banisters,  while  mamma  picked  up 
the  screaming  Carl,  and  carried  him  into 
the  dining-room. 

Rob  sat  down  on  the  upper  stair  in 
horror,  with  his  hat  in  his  hands. 

"  Maybe  he's  dead,  you  know,"  he  said 
at  last,  when  the  sharp  screams  ceased. 
"  You  ought  to've  gone  slower.  I'd  no 
idea  you'd  do  it  anyway.  You  mustn't 
take  everything  in  earnest,  so,  and  do  all 
that  anybody  asks  you  to !  " 

But  there  proved  to  be  no  serious  injury, 
and  Carl,  with  a  plaster  on  his  forehead, 
became  the  hero  of  the  hour. 

To  Aunt  Marion's  great  relief,  mamma 
sent  them  all  out  of  doors,  and  they  con- 


102    AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

soled  themselves  with  a  game  of  marbles, 
a  game  of  ball,  a  military  funeral,  a  circus, 
a  regatta  with  gate  posts  for  yachts  and 
Rob  as  commodore,  and  a  single-scull  race 
in  which  everybody  sat  on  the  sidewalk 
and  sculled  with  his  hands. 

"  You  bet  I'll  go  to  college  when  I'm 
a  man,"  said  Rob,  with  ardor,  as  they 
sculled,  "  and  I'm  going  to  the  one  with 
the  biggest  base  ball  club  and  the  most 
boats." 

The  four  small  boys  agreed  to  this  plan 
of  life,  but  the  morning's  entertainment 
was  cut  short  by  the  taking  off  of  Rob 
and  Louis  to  be  washed  and  brushed. 
This  being  accomplished,  Rob  and  Louis 
were  kept  in  position  till  a  carriage  came, 
when  the  entire  family  disappeared  in  a 
cloud  of  dust  amid  shouts  of  "  Good  bye !  " 
"  Hurrah  for  up  country !  "  "  Bring  us  a 
bear !  "  &c. 


HELPING  PACK.  103 

Before  seven  o'clock  that  night  every 
nook  of  a  green  yard  under  the  locust 
trees,  "  up  country,"  had  been  visited ; 
every  hen  and  chicken  hud  been  inter- 
viewed ;  every  crank  in  every  machine  had 
been  turned ;  and  every  corner  of  every 
loft,  shed,  stall,  sty,  and  haymow  had  been 
faithfully  explored.  No  stone  was  left  un- 
turned to  discover  whatsoever  change  had 
taken  place  since  the  boys'  last  visit. 

Before  eight  o'clock  Rob  and  Louis  were 
dreaming  of  scrambles  and  climbs  past  and 
to  come.  Phil  and  his  cousin  Louise,  old 
enough  to  stay  up  awhile  and  enough  alike 
to  be  thoroughly  comfortable  together,  sat 
on  the  broad  stone  doorsteps,  talking  in  a 
half  grown-up  way,  of  games  and  books 
and  picnics. 

"  It's  three  weeks  since  school  closed," 
said  Phil,  "but  vacation  has  just  begun." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SUMMER  DAYS. 

weeks  went  by.  An  actual 
"  deluge  of  summer "  was  poured 
about  the  boys. 
Phil  fished ;  bathed  in  the  clear  Saco ; 
rode  on  great  swaying  loads  of  sweet- 
smelling  hay,  and  laughed  at  Aunt  Marion's 
warning  of  "  snakes  in  it ;  "  played  croquet 
under  the  locusts  with  Louise ;  whistled 
when  she  practised  her  music  lessons ; 
climbed  no  end  of  trees ;  and  swung  in 

the  broad  sunny  hammock,    or  lay  on  the 
104 


SUMMER   DAYS.  105 

grass  reading  history,  mythology,  or  fairy 
stories. 

Phil  cared  little  for  companionship  other 
than  Rob's,  and  Rob  cared  little  for  read- 
ing ;  so  after  playing  together  for  half  a 
day  they  usually  separated,  Rob  to  seek 
green  fields  and  pastures  new,  Phil  to  go 
to  his  hammock  and  book. 

Rob  did  everything  that  Phil  did  and 
more,  in  the  way  of  exercise  ;  and  when 
Phil  began  his  reading  and  dozing  and 
swinging,  Rob  went  down  in  the  fields 
again  to  spread  hay,  build  dams  in  the 
brook  and  float  his  boat,  tarn  somersets, 
and  hunt  bears  or  woodchucks,  as  he 
thought  best.  He  had  an  extensive  ac- 
quaintance among  the  farmers  in  all  direc- 
tions, and  was  constantly  perched  on  some 
wagon  or  cart,  by  the  side  of  "  a  man  he 
knew,"  who  seemingly  enjoyed  the  inter- 
course as  much  as  Rob  did. 


106  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S   VACATION. 

Phil  looked  doubtfully  upon  Rob's  very 
general  friendships,  and  sometimes  reasoned 
with  him,  but  Rob's  invariable  reply,  "  Oh, 
he's  all  right !  first  rate  feller,"  was  not 
to  be  disproved. 

"  There's  no  danger,"  said  uncle  Tim  ; 
"  the  men  all  know  where  he  belongs,  and 
they  are  sure  to  bring  him  back." 

"  But  he  is  learning  to  talk  so  carelessly," 
said  Aunt  Marion.  "•  I  noticed  this  morn- 
ing that  he  said  '  we  wasn't,'  and  4  hain't '." 

However,  errors  in  English  were  more 
easily  corrected  than  certain  other  errors, 
mamma  thought ;  so  Rob  ran  and  roamed 
and  rode  to  his  heart's  content,  and  there 
beamed  in  his  face  and  looked  out  at  his 
eyes  a  placid  content  with  these  careless, 
easy  days,  that  was  charming  to  see. 

"  You  know,  mamma,"  explained  Rob, 
one  day  during  the  hair-brushing  process, 
"  there's  no  p'licemen  here  to  say  you 


SUMMER   DAYS.  107 

shan't  ride  your  velocipede  on  the  sidewalk, 
and  shan't  play  football  in  the  street,  and 
shan't  stay  here  and  shan't  go  there.  You 
don't  know  how  hard  cheesits  are  on  fel- 
lers. Up  here,  a  man  don't  care  whether 
you're  oh  his  ground  or  not  so  long  as 
you  don't  tread  down  his  grass  and  tear 
up  things." 

"  But  why  aren't  you  contented  to  stay 
on  uncle  Tim's  farm  ? "  asked  mamma,  to 
whom  this  love  of  roaming  was  a  source 
of  uneasiness. 

"  Well,  it  is  boss,"  said  Rob,  cheerily, 
"  but  it's  bosser  to  go  exactly  where  you 
want  to,  you  know.  I  wish  they  didn't 
have  fences  up  here,  it  seems  shut  in  for 
up  country.  There  aren't  any  fences  at 
sea,  and  you're  never  shut  up.  I  guess 
I  shall  go  to  sea  when  I'm  a  man  —  but 
I  sh'd  be  awful  lonesome  without  you, 
mamma !  " 


108  AN  AVERAGE   BOY'S  VACATION. 

More  and  more  distressed  at  poor  Rob's 
inborn  love  of  freedom,  mamma  explained 
that  being  shut  up  in  a  ship  is  worse  than 
being  shut  up  in  a  broad  green  field,  and 
there  are  severer  restraints  for  sailors  than 
policemen  impose  upon  Rob  and  his  kind  ; 
but  Rob  knew  that  this  was  a  woman's 
view  of  the  case. 

"  But  when  you  are  a  man,"  said  mamma, 
smoothing  the  little  round  white  head, 
"  if  you  want  more  than  anything  else  to 
go  to  sea,  you  may  go  ;  because  papa  and 
mamma  think  it  best  for  boys  to  do  what- 
ever they  want  most  to  do,  when  they  are 
old  enough  to  be  quite  sure  of  what  they 
want." 

"  All  right !  "  said  Rob,  with  a  beaming 
smile;  "then  I  shan't  have  to  run  away 
to  sea,  like  the  boys  in  the  Sabbath  school 
book  Phil  read  to  me  last  Sunday.  P'aps 
I  shan't  go  to  sea,  anyway,  you  know,"  he 


SUMMER   DAYS.  109 

added,  with  a  desire  to  make  everything 
agreeable,  and  with  a  clear  perception  that 
the  idea  wasn't  so  amusing  to  his  mother 
as  to  him.  "  But  you  bet  I  love  you, 
mamma ! " 

Louis  enjoyed  things  in  his  own  way  — 
which  was  an  odd  mixture  of  Phil's  way 
and  Rob's  way  —  quite  as  much  as  the 
older  boys. 

He  entertained  himself  for  an  hour  or 
two  every  morning,  by  helping  drive  the 
cows  to  pasture,  feed  the  pigs  and  chickens, 
and  water  the  horse.  Then  somebody 
going  somewhere  took  him  to  ride.  Then 
he  dug  a  garden,  sometimes  with  a  shovel, 
sometimes  with  a  teaspoon,  and  once  with 
the  pie-knife.  He  walked  about  among 
the  tall  growing  corn ;  played  with  the 
kittens;  "picked"  vegetables  for  dinner; 
"  husked  "  the  peas  ;  "  shelled  "  the  straw- 
berries ;  looked  after  things  in  the  kitchen ; 


110  AN  AVERAGE   BOY'S   VACATION. 

and  finally  went  down  in  the  field  to  k'  help 
Rob,"  and  to  ride  upon  the  last  load  of 
hay  before  noon. 

Besides,  there  were  dams  in  the  brook 
to  be  looked  after ;  and  eggs  to  be  hunted  ; 
and  chickens  need  constant  care. 

In  one  way  and  another,  first  and  last, 
Louis  had  a  vast  deal  of  trouble  with  those 
hens  and  chickens. 

The  hens  would  make  their  nests  on 
heights  that  he  could  never  reach,  and 
indeed,  when  at  last  he  found  two  eggs 
within  easy  distance  he  broke  them  both 
with  a  stick,  "  'cause  who'd  ever  eat  eggs 
laid  in  a  dirty  ash  barrel  ?  " 

The  chickens,  too,  had  notions  of  their 
own,  and  I  fancy  that  between  Louis  and 
them  were  many  struggles  that  never 
reached  the  public  ear. 

One  afternoon  Louis  came  with  a  dead 
chicken  in  a  starch  box.  and  invited  his 


SUMMER  DAYS,  111 

mother  to  a  funeral.  The  circumstances 
of  the  "accident"  being  inquired  into,  it 
was  found  that  Louis  thought  that  the 
chicken  looked  warm  and  tired,  and  he 
was  sure  that  she  "  needed  a  nap  for  rest." 
He  tried  to  make  'er  roost  and  she  wouldn't. 
He  had  to  use  a  stick,  and  even  then  she 
wouldn't  roost,  and  wouldn't  do  anything 
but  piep.  And  the  first  thing  Louis  knew, 
the  chicken  "  left  off  her  voice,"  and  didn't 
so  much  as  piep.  The  first  thing  he  knew 
after  that,  the  chicken  was  dead,  Aunt 
Anna  said,  and  she  said  he  might  have 
a  funeral. 

From  that  time  Aunt  Anna  took  the 
management  of  the  chickens  out  of  Louis' 
hands,  and  he  amused  himself  elsewhere. 

When  he  had  taken  care  of  his  own 
affairs,  and  was  tired  of  "  helping  Rob," 
he  went  round  to  the  green  yard  under 
the  locust  trees,  and  crept  into  the  ham- 


112  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

mock  with  Phil,  while  Phil  told  him  about 
the  Battle  of  Lookout  Mountain  ;  Latona 
and  the  Frogs ;  or  the  "  Dogs  with  Eyes 
as  big  as  Teacups,  Eyes  big  as  Mill-Wheels, 
and  Eyes  big  as  Round  Towers." 

Sometimes  Rob  joined  them,  but  usually 
he  was  too  busy. 

One  night,  however,  he  flung  himself 
over  the  fence,  during  one  of  these  hours 
of  story-telling,  and  marching  up  to  the 
hammock  said  excitedly, 

"  Phil,  I  know  a  boy  out  here  't  says 
you're  a  cocoon." 

"A  what?"  said  Phil. 

44  Well,  I  don't  know's  it  was  a  cocoon  ! 
I  guess  'twas  a  bookworm.  He  says  you're 
a  bookworm  !  " 

Phil  laughed. 

44  Aint  you  mad  ?  "  roared  Rob,  all  in  a 
fury. 

44  No,"   said   Phil,   with   provoking   cool- 


SUMMER  DAYS.  113 

ness ;  "  that's  no  harm.  I  don't  care  what 
he  says." 

Rob's  face  flamed,  and  he  fairly  danced 
with  anger  and  amazement  at  Phil's  in- 
difference. 

"Well,  I'm  mad,  V  I'm  goin'  to  lick 
'im  now ! "  he  cried,  hurrying  awajr.  "  I 
can  do  it  with  one  hand !  " 

"  Oh  yes,  do  it!  do  it !  "  cried  Louis,  in. 
high  glee. 

Phil  started  to  interfere,  but  from  a  win- 
dow overlooking  the  yard,  called  the  voice? 
that  always  calls  at  a  crisis. 

"  She  always  sees  even/thing,"  muttered! 
Rob,  but  he  turned  and  went  slowly  up. 
to  the  great  cool  room  where  his  mother 
sat  sewing.  Here  the  difference  between, 
a  bookworm  and  a  cocoon  was  made  clear- 
to  his  mind  and  his  anger  was  cooled. 

That  night  Rob  was  found  lying  in  the- 
hammock,  face  down,  spelling  out  the  long; 
words  in  a  "  History  of  the  World." 


114 


AN   AVERAGE  BOY  S  VACATION. 


"  Are  you  looking  for  anything,  Rob  ?  '* 
asked  his  mother,  in  surprise. 

"  No'm,  nothing  special,"  replied  Rob, 
too  busy  to  raise  his  eyes ;  "  but  I'm  tired 
of  playing,  and  I'm  going  to  be  a  book- 
worm. I've  just  begun,  and  I'm  getting 
on  bossly." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

PRODIGIES,  FAIRIES,   AND  A  ZOOLOGICAL 
MATINEE. 

begin  with,  the  advertisement 
was  thrilling. 

"Not  only  the  largest,  best, 
most  instructive,  amusing,  diversified,  and 
interesting,  but  certainly  by  far  the  most 
respectably  conducted  and  universally  pop- 
ular first  class  amusement  now  before  the 
public.  Entirely  unexceptionable  and  such 
as  heads  of  the  most  respectable  families, 
and  seminaries  for  youth,  will  not  hesitate 

115 


116  AN   AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

to  encourage  those  under  their  charge  to 
attend." 

"  Elephants,  Lions,  Camels,  Zebras,  Bears, 
Birds,  Hyenas,  and  a  wilderness  of  Mon- 
keys including  a  Ring-tailer  and  a  full 
grown  Chimpanzee !  " 

"  A  noble  Signor,  who  is  the  Head- 
centre  of  the  Bareback  Champion  Riders 
in  all  Christendom,  and  his  Infantile  Prod- 

igyJ" 

".  A  trained  horse  named  General  Grant !  " 

"  Cleopatra,  the  largest  and  most  intel- 
ligent living  elephant ! " 

"  The  menagerie  only  to  be  seen  at  its 
best  in  the  Zoological  Matinee  !  " 

"  The  only  living  Bless-Bok,  an  Orang- 
Outang,  and  a  Man-Monkey !  "  which  last 
named  animal  I'm  sure  we  needn't  go  to 
the  circus  to  see. 

All  these  things  were  to  be  seen  under 
two  colossal  tents,  and  the  public  was  as- 


PEODIGIES  AND  FAIEIES.  117 

sured  that  the  canvas  had  been  overflowing 
everywhere  with  literary  men,  clergymen, 
artizans,  shopkeepers  and  laborers  —  all  with 
their  respectable  and  delighted  families. 
Brilliant  bills  were  posted  everywhere  and 
extraordinary  pictures  of  blood-curdling 
performances  and  unheard-of  animals  set 
Phil,  Rob  and  Louis,  in  a  fever  of  excite- 
ment. 

I  suppose  there's  not  a  boy  living  who 
would  not  crave  the  sight  of  a  full  grown 
Chimpanzee,  or  whose  heart  would  not  leap 
with  joy  at  the  name  of  the  only  living 
Bless-Bok,  and  the  Grand-Quadruple-Com- 
bination-Show and  Asiatic  Caravan. 

At  all  events,  these  boys  were  so  moved 
by  the  words  of  the  advertisement  that 
books,  hammock,  hens  and  chickens,  and 
the  beautiful  Intervale  fields  were  all  de- 
serted for  twenty-four  hours. 

At   the   end  of    that   time   Aunt  Marion 


118  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S   VACATION. 

had  promised  to  take  Louise  and  the  boys 
to  .this  great  moral  show.  Sorry  to  tell, 
on  the  morning  of  circus  day,  a  cloud  came 
down  from  the  near  mountains  and  brought 
with  it  a  shower  that  threatened  to  spoil 
the  track  and  the  boys'  fun  generally. 

But  the  heaviest  showers  have  an  end, 
and  soon  after  twelve  o'clock  the  sun  was 
shining  brightly,  exactly  as  the  newspaper 
had  foretold;  and  Aunt  Marion  with  her 
very  much  delighted  and  somewhat  respect- 
able family,  marched  over  the  hills  and  far 
away,  to  the  music  of  the  band. 

The  two  colossal  tents  gleamed  and 
creaked,  and  lifted  waving  flags  high  in 
air.  A  man,  in  a  very  high  cart,  was  sell- 
ing tickets,  and  a  great  many  small  boys, 
flat  upon  the  wet  grass,  were  trying  to 
look  in  under  the  edge  of  the  tent. 

But  the  matter  of  the  greatest  interest 
so  far,  was  the  display  of  art  which  flapped 


PRODIGIES  AND  FAIRIES.  119 

in  the  wind  on  a  smaller  tent,  and  invited 
to  the  side  shows. 

Chief  among  these  was  a  life  size  picture 
of  a  fat  boy  in  blue  with  a  red  hat  and 
white  feather,  closely  stared  at  by  a  woman, 
very  much  larger  than  life,  dressed  in  green 
and  purple,  and  leading  by  the  hand  a 
yellow  haired  child  in  scarlet  dress  and 
blue  gloves. 

There  was  another  piece  of  coloring  rep- 
resenting a  Circassian  lady,  in  pink  and 
green,  sitting  upon  a  pink  and  green  car- 
pet and  having  her  hair  in  a  most  aston- 
ishing condition  intended  to  show  that  she 
was  a  curiosity. 

There  were  pictures  of  fiery  serpents, 
wild  horses,  dogs  in  mid-air,  and  more 
things  than  I  can  tell.  These  pictures 
were  hung  loosely  by  four  corners,  and 
when  partly  filled  by  the  wind,  the  effect 
was  astonishing. 


120  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S   VACATION. 

With  a  sigh  of  regret  and  a  backward 
glance  toward  these  things  of  beauty,  the 
children  went  on  to  the  "  truly  circus." 
Passing  through  the  door  of  one  of  the 
colossal  tents,  and  being  with  great  diffi- 
culty seated  in  a  row,  their  eyes  grew 
round  with  wonder,  and  silence  fell  upon 
them. 

The  ring-master  in  black  dress  coat 
trimmed  with  red  velvet  and  spangles, 
seemed  part  methodist  minister  and  part 
dancing  master. 

The  clown  wore  spangled  green  and 
gold  and  cracked  his  jokes  while  the  ring- 
master cracked  his  whip. 

A  beautiful  white  horse  cantered  gently 
around  the  ring,  hanging  his  head  in  shame, 
Aunt  Marion  said,  at  being  in  such  com- 
pany. 

The  people  laughed,  babies  cried,  boys 
who  didn't  come  in  families  howled,  and 


PRODIGIES  AND   FAIKIES.  121 

the  horse  himg  his  head  all  the  time.  Phil 
said  that  his  head  was  tied  down. 

The  clown  went  out  under  the  curtain, 
but  there  came  other  clowns,  pressed  in 
calico,  and  therefore  exceedingly  funny ; 
more  jokes ;  more  laughing  and  crying ; 
more  noise  from  the  boys;  and  these 
clowns  also  went  out  under  the  curtain. 

When  they  went  out,  the  prettiest  pony 
in  the  world  came  in,  and  even  Aunt 
Marion  was  delighted. 

Then  followed  still  another  clown  ar- 
rayed in  a  combination  of  red,  blue,  yel- 
low, and  black,  with  the  same  horrible 
spangles  and  equally  horrible  jokes  ;  whips ; 
laughter ;  cries ;  howls ;  and,  at  last,  the 
blessed  curtain  that  covers  all. 

Then  a  girl  in  pink  and  blue  tarletan 
and  spangles,  who  leaps  upon  the  back 
of  her  horse  with  a  smile  that  is  enchant- 
ing. The  horse  moves  around  the  ring  to 


122  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

the  time  of  slow  music,  and  Phil  says  the 
girl  looks  like  a  fairy. 

But  the  players  quicken  the  music,  and 
the  girl  is  transformed.  Broad  banners  are 
brought,  and  when  the  horse  gallops  under 
them  the  woman  flies  over  them.  Paper 
covered  hoops  are  brought,  and  she  plunges 
headlong  through  the  paper  and  comes 
down  upon  the  horse's  back  again,  with- 
out disturbing  the  rose  in  her  hair. 

"Aunt  Marion,"  said  Rob,  never  moving 
his  eyes  from  the  performance,  "  I'll  bet 
your  hair'd  come  down  if  you  should  try 
that." 

"  She  never  would  try  it,"  said  Phil, 
with  dignity. 

"  Well,  she  couldn't  do  it  if  she  should 
try !  "  persisted  Rob. 

"  No,  she'd  hurt  herself,"  said  Louis, 
laying  his  hand  protectingly  on  Aunt  Mar- 
ion's arm. 


PEODIGIES  AMD  FAIBIES.  123 

.The  bells  in  the  saddle  jingle,  the 
spangles  glitter,  the  music  grows  louder 
and  louder,  the  great  white  horse  goes 
faster  and  faster,  till  at  last  the  horse 
dashes  out  under  tne  curtain,  and  the  band 
stops  with  a  crash. 

The  question  in  Louis'  mind  is,  whether 
the  horse  and  the  woman  stop  on  the  other 
side  of  the  curtain,  or  whether  they  still 
fly  on  jover  banners  and  through  hoops, 
over  houses  and  trees  and  mountains, 
higher  and  higher  till  they  disappear  in 
the  clouds. 

The  next  "  act "  proved  to  Rob  the 
gratifying  fact  that  a  man  may  stand  on 
his  head  and  at  the  same  time  eat  his  din- 
ner by  means  of  a  fork  fastened  to  his 
left  foot.  Aunt  Marion  couldn't  think  this 
desirable,  but  Phil  and  Rob  liked  it  greatly. 

Next  the  trapeze.  Louise  thought  it 
"  perfectly  horrid,"  but  the  boys  watched 


124  AN  AVEEAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

every  motion,  and  Phil  and  Rob  decided 
between  themselves  that  there  was  a  first 
rate  chance  for  two  trapeze  bars  out  in 
uncle  Tim's  barn.  If  this  shouldn't  be 
agreeable  to  uncle  Tim,  the  bars  could  be 
put  among  the  locust  trees,  and  in  going 
from  one  bar  to  the  other  it  might  be  pos- 
sible to  touch  the  hammock  in  passing, 
come  up  with  a  flying  leap  and  hang  by 
your  feet  to  the  other  bar. 

From  behind  the  dingy  red  curtain  that 
hid  the  unoccupied  performers,  there  came 
out  just  before  the  close  of  the  trapeze 
act,  a  little  woman  in  a  faded  shawl  and 
shabby  hat,  sitting  down  among  the  mu- 
sicians and  looking  back  at  the  curtain. 
Aunt  Marion  noticed  her  for  her  evident 
eagerness  and  anxiety,  and  when  the  In- 
fantile Prodigy  ran  with  his  father  into  the 
ring,  it  was  clear  that  he  was  Tier  Prodigy. 

Round   and  round   the   ring    they   went, 


PRODIGIES  AND  FAIRIES.  125 

the  man  and  the  boy,  in  every  conceivable 
position,  each  more  dangerous  than  the 
last,  and  the  woman's  eyes  never  once 
turned  from  the  baby-faced  boy.  People, 
music,  spangles,  and  gaudy,  silly  clown 
were  nothing  to  her ;  she  had  no  thought 
for  anything  but  the  tiny  figure  poised  in 
air  far  above  the  heads  of  the  people. 

Aunt  Marion  and  Louise  were  very  glad 
and  the  boys  very  sorry,  when  the  mother, 
wrapping  the  Prodigy  in  her  own  old 
shawl,  led  him  behind  the  curtain. 

An  agreeable  diversion  was  the  entrance 
of  the  elephant  —  the  peerless  Cleopatra. 

"  Is  it  a  pincushion,  or  is  it  a  truly  ele- 
phant ? "  asked  Louis,  with  the  fancy  arti- 
cles of  the  last  church  fair  uppermost  in 
his  mind.  Phil  commented  upon  her  ears 
like  that  kind  of  seaweed  known  as  "  devil's 
apron,"  and  Rob  was  much  surprised  by  her 
voice  as  heard  in  a  series  of  sharp  sounds 
which  only  a  boy  could  rival. 


126  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

As  our  party  entered  the  second  colossal 
tent  where  the  Zoological  Matinee  was 
held,  ominous  growls  and  snarls  were  heard. 
The  animals  were  arranged  in  cages  around 
the  tent,  and  in  the  centre  of  the  great 
circle  thus  formed,  was  a  table  covered 
with  oranges,  candies,  cakes,  and  lemonade. 
The  lemonade,  to  Louis'  great  confusion, 
was  being  "  given  away  at  five  cents  a 
glass."  Louis  asked  anxiously  if  the  candy 
was  being  given  away  too,  and  was  made 
happy  by  a  great  square  of  molasses  candy 
which  he  put,  in  nearly  equal  parts,  in  his 
mouth,  on  his  face,  and  on  his  clothes. 

The  hyena  snarled  ;  the  polar  bear  panted 
horribly;  the  panther  was  savage ;  the  zebra 
was  placid ;  the  monkeys  chattered  and 
grinned ;  the  camels  stretched  their  necks 
incredibly ;  and  the  lion  behaved  as  he 
ought,  shaking  his  head  and  mane  in  a  way 
that  was.  calculated  to  terrify  and  delight 
all  small  boys. 


PRODIGIES  AND  FAIRIES.  127 

Rob  thought  that  the  rhinoceros  looked 
like  "  his  last  winter's  overcoat  when  the 
moths  got  in  it ;  "  and  Louis  declared  that 
the  "  hipopotamus  was  a  stuffed  animal," 
until  the  great  creature  suddenly  opened 
his  mouth  and  stopped  all  doubts. 

The  side  shows  were  gone  through  in 
course.  The  Circassian  girl  looked  like  a 
doll  on  an  electric  battery.  The  mammoth 
boy  had  a  babyish  expression,  and  no  end 
of  dimples. 

"  Is  he  real  ? "  asked  Louis,  convinced 
that  all  these  things  were  too  good  to  be 
true. 

"  Oh,  yes !  "  said  the  fat  boy  in  a  puffy 
voice  ;  "  I  am  —  real  real !  "  and  reaching 
out  a  flabby  hand  laid  it  upon  Louis'  head 
so  that  the  great  fingers  hung  down  all 
over  the  little  candy  stained  face. 

Phil  strode  close  to  Louis'  side,  and  Rob 
caught  at  his  sleeve,  both  clearly  fearing 


128  AN   AVERAGE   BOY'S   VACATION. 

that  the  fat  boy  would  lift  him  from  the 
ground;  but  that  great  person  only  shook 
all  over  like  a  mould  of  jelly,  and  Louis 
was  even  more  pleased  than  when  the  hip- 
popotamus opened  his  mouth  in  his  honor. 

There  were  yet  to  be  seen  the  wild 
horses  and  their  tamer  ;  and  after  the  at- 
tentions that  Louis  had  received  from  the 
show  in  general,  he  was  ready  for  anything 
that  could  happen  in  this  tent. 

But  the  wild  horses  were  a  disappoint- 
ment. They  had  been  tamed  so  many  times 
that  day  that  they  drooped  under  it  at  last. 
Their  tamer,  however,  was  all  that  could 
be  desired.  He  was  mild  and  gentle,  to 
be  sure,  and  tall,  with  very  long  face,  long 
curls,  long  teeth  which  his  lips  entirely 
failed  to  cover,  and  a  very  long  drawl  when 
he  spoke.  But  he  was  gayly  dressed  in  a 
buckskin  suit  embroidered  with  beads,  In- 
dian mocasins,  and  a  white  beaver  hat, 


PEODIGIES  AND  FAIRIES.  129 

with  a  feather  on  one  side.  His  whip  was 
every  inch  of  six  feet  in  length,  and  there 
was  a  sword  by  his  side.  It  must  have 
been  a  very  ill-natured  boy  thai  would  not 
have  been  pleased  by  this  dress. 

The  horses  were  tamed  three  times  while 
the  respectable  family  hung  over  the  railing; 
of  the  enclosure,  and  Rob  insisted  upon 
going  inside  "  to  see  if  he  couldn't  tame 
'em." 

But  Aunt  Marion,  anxious  for  a  change 
of  scene,  promised  a  trip  upon  the  backs, 
of  the  wooden  flying  horses  outside. 

These  horses,  therefore,  were  duly 
mounted,  but  after  two  successful  circles, 
had  been  made,  Rob,  in  his  efforts  to- 
"  hurry  'em  up  a  little,  'cause  Aunt  Mar- 
ion's waiting,"  fell  off  his  horse.  This- 
frightened  Louis,  and  in  trying  to  look 
over  his  shoulder  he  also  fell  off. 

All  the  horses  were  stopped  at  this,  and! 


130  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

Rob  was  found  unhurt,  but  Louis  had 
bruised  his  head  and  cut  his  hand.  Aunt 
Marion  bound  up  the  wounds,  and  at  last 
the  party  made  the  best  of  its  way  home, 
tired,  hungry,  and  by  that  time  several 
degrees  removed  from  respectability. 

"  I  don't  believe  that  there  was  one  thing 
in  any  tent,  that  we  didn't  see,"  said, 
Phil,  rousing  himself,  when  almost  asleep, 
to  express  his  satisfaction  once  more. 

"  No,  not  one,"  answered  Rob,  drowsily  , 
and  wasn't  it  boss  ?  " 

"  'N'  wasn't  the  fat  boy  fearfully  nice  ?  " 
asked  Louis,  from  the  crib.  "  I'm  ac- 
quainted with  him,  I'll  bet  a  trillion." 

"Phil," — a  few  minutes  later — "don't 
you  —  believe  —  we  c'n  make  —  a  —  c'lossal 
—  tent  —  t'morrow  ?  " 

But  there  was  no  answer,  and  Rob  would 
not  have  heard  it  if  there  had  been. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


PUBLIC   SPEAKING. 

HERE'S   going  to  be   the  last  day 
of  school  this  morning,"  said  Rob, 
to  his  mother,  one  day  ;  "  and  Phil 
and  I  are  invited.     Can  we  go  ? " 

"  I'm  invited,  too,"  I  s'pose,"  said  Louis. 

"  No,  she  didn't  say  anything  about  you. 

But  I  guess  you  can  go,  for  there  aint  any 

tickets,  and  you   don't   have  to  pay  to  go 

in." 

"  Don't    say  aint,   Rob ! "    begged  Aunt 
Marion. 
"  Who  invited  you  ?  "  asked  the  mother. 

131 


132  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

"  The  teacher,  inamma.  I  don't  know 
her  name,  but  I'm  acquainted  with  her. 
She  speaks  to  me  every  morning  when  she 
goes  by,  and  always  calls  me  Robert  —  very 
partic'lar  about  that." 

"  What  did  she  say  to  you  this  morning  ? 
Try  to  remember  exactly." 

"  She  asked  me  if  I  went  to  school.  I 
said  yes,  of  course,  but  now  we  were  up 
here  'cause  it's  vacation,  and  boys  act  so 
in  town  when  it's  vacation." 

"  Did  you  tell  her  you's  primary  ?  "  in- 
terrupted Louis,  who  had  great  contempt 
for  all  but  grammar  school  boys. 

"  She  wouldn't  'spect  a  boy  eight  years 
old  to  be  anything  else,  would  she  ?  "  re- 
torted Rob. 

"  Well,  go  on,"  said  his  mother. 

"And  she  said  'didn't  I  have  a  brother?'" 

"  That's  me ! "  put  in  Louis  again. 

"That  is  J,"  corrected  Aunt  Marion. 


PUBLIC   SPEAKING.  133 

"  And  I  said  yes,"  went  on  Rob,  "  and 
then,  mamma,  she  said  to-day  was  the  last 
day  in  her  school,  and  to  ask  you  if  Phil 
and  I  couldn't  come  in  visitors.  Can  we  ?  " 

"  P'aps  she  didn't  know  you  had  me  in 
the  fam'ly,"  said  Louis,  quite  discouraged. 

"  If  you  will  promise  to  be  a  good,  quiet 
boy,  and  not  disturb  the  school,  I  thin£ 
you  may  go  too,"  said  mamma. 

"  Boss  !  "  said  Louis,  simply. 

"  I'll  take  care  of  'im,"  promised  Rob ; 
"  'n'  he's  quieter  'n  I  am,  anyway." 

"  It  isn't  the  large  school,"  said  Phil ; 
that's  at  the  other  end  of  the  village.  He 
can't  make  much  of  a  fuss ;  there's  only 
ten  or  twelve  scholars." 

"  It's  a  little  house  of  a  darkish  dark 
color,  isn't  it  ?  "  asked  Louis. 

"  Very  darkish,"  replied  Phil ;  "  isn't 
painted  at  all." 

"  I've  been  by  there  a  billion  times !  " 
said  Louis.  "  I  'spose  it's  a  billion." 


134          AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

After  preparatory  toilets  the  three  went 
away  delighted. 

"  It's  an  awful  big  school !  "  whispered 
Louis,  peeping  in  at  the  open  door. 

"  No,  it's  a  little  one,"  disputed  Rob. 

"  Rob  Knox,  jest  see  the  scholars !  there's 
a  trillion,  and  a  billion,  and  as  much  as  a 
million,  I'll  bet !  " 

"  Jest  eleven  of  'em,"  said  Rob :  "  I've 
counted  'em." 

"What  shall  I  do  with  my  hat?"  asked 
Louis,  who  had  never  been  so  near  a  school 
room  before. 

"  Oh,  anything  !  "  said  Rob. 

"I'll  fix  it,"  said  Phil. 

This  whispered  conference  had  attracted 
the  notice  of  the  teacher,  a  pretty  little 
brown-eyed  woman,  who  now  appeared  and 
escorted  the  boys  to  seats,  accidentally 
putting  Rob  and  Louis  together. 

It  was  a  funny  little  room.     There  were 


PUBLIC   SPEAKING.  135 

not  more  than  twenty  seats  in  all;  the 
teacher's  desk  was  opposite  the  door,  and 
everything  sloped  down  from  the  door  to 
the  desk.  Rob  felt  as  though  he  were  on 
the  deck  of  a  boat. 

"  Play  we've  gone  to  sea,"  he  whispered 
to  Louis.  "  The  other  end  of  the  room's 
gone  down  in  the  waves,  you  know,  's  what 
makes  it  so  low." 

Louis  looked  alarmed. 

The  window  sills  were  all  higher  than 
the  teacher's  head,  so  it  was  of  no  use  to 
try  to  look  out  of  doors.  But  the  desks 
were  entirely  free  from  paint,  and  Louis 
found  it  amusing  to  study  the  letters  and 
lines,  faces  and  figures  that,  for  years,  in- 
dustrious scholars  had  been  cutting  in  the 
wood.  Just  as  he  had  begun  to  tire  of 
this,  a  large  girl  in  the  seat  in  front  of 
them,  slipped  a  book  full  of  pictures,  upon 
the  desk.  Louis  looked  at  Rob,  inquiringly. 


186  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

"  Course  so  !  "  said  Rob,  and  Louis  turned 
over  the  leaves  for  some  time.  The  flies 
in  the  schoolroom  weren't  half  as  still  as 
Louis.  He  couldn't  have  told,  if  he  had 
been  asked,  what  picture  he  had  seen  on 
the  last  page  he  turned  over,  because  he 
was  so  intent  upon  turning  the  leaves 
quietly. 

Presently  he  turned  upon  Rob  a  face  so 
full  of  enquiry  that  Rob  aslsed  in  some 
alarm,  "What  is  it?" 

Louis  shook  his  head. 

"  Yes,  yes  !  "  urged  Rob  ;  "  say  it  easy." 

Louis  put  his  lips  close  up  to  Rob's  ear 
and  breathed  out : 

"  Is  this  being  a  '  good,  quiet  boy  ?  " 

"  Dreadful  I  "  said  Bob,  in  the  loudest 
of  whispers.  "  Beautiful  I  "  Then  he 
added:  "See  that  girl  over  there?" 

Louis  nodded. 

"  Know   who  she's  looking  at  ?  " 


PUBLIC   SPEAKING. 

Louis  shook  his  head.  The  girl  was 
cross-eyed,  a  misfortune  that  Louis  had 
neyer  noticed  in  anybody  before. 

"  Well,  she's  looking  at  you,  and  she 
likes  your  looks.  She  is  thinking  what  a 
good  boy  you  are.  I  can  tell  by  her  face 
what  she's  thinking." 

This  was  meant  for  encouragement,  but 
it  only  distressed  Louis. 

"  Rob  says  she's  looking  at  me,"  he 
thought,  "  but  I  shouldn't  think  she  was. 
If  she  is,  why  don't  she  ?  " 

He  tried  to  go  back  to  his  book,  but 
those  eyes  awry  looked  at  him  from  every 
face  in  the  pictures.  He  longed  to  speak 
to  Rob  about  it  again,  but  that  would  not 
be  like  being  a  "  good,  quiet  boy,"  he  was 
sure. 

"  She's  too  big  to  go  to  school,"  he  said 
to  himself.  "  What  if  she  should  like  my 
looks  so  well,  she  sh'd  think  she'd  carry 
me  off!" 


138  AN  AVERAGE  BOY~S  VACATION. 

This  was  a  startling  idea.  Everything 
was  strange  to  the  child  and  not  enter- 
taining, and  a  four-year-old  brain  may  well 
have  wild  fancies  when  grown-up  brains 
take  such  notions  as  they  do. 

"  What  if  she  should !  "  thought  Louis. 
"  How  mamma'd  feel !  " 

The  thought  of  his  mother  filled  his  cup 
to  the  brim.  He  knew  just  where  his  hat 
hung  in  the  little  entry ;  he  knew  just  how 
everything  looked  out  of  doors ;  and,  best 
of  all,  he  knew  the  way  home. 

Some  child  was  reading  at  the  teacher's 
knee  in  a  steady,  sleepy  tone.  The  slow- 
dropping  words  were  tiresome,  and  Louis 
felt  that  he  should  soon  fall  asleep ;  V 
then,  perhaps  the  girl  would  —  Rob  said 
she  was  lookin'  at  him  —  '11'  Rob  said,  he 
certainly  did  say  that  the  other  end  of  the 
room  was  down  in  the  waves  was  what 
made  it  so  low !  " 


PUBLIC   SPEAKING.  189 

He  rose  to  his  feet.  Nobody  noticed  it, 
and  he  tiptoed  up  the  swelling  floor  to  the 
door,  never  looking  behind  him.  Out  into 
the  grass  was  but  a  step  from  the  door, 
and  he  did  not  miss  his  hat  till  his  mother 
asked  about  it  as  he  sat  in  her  lap  five 
minutes  later. 

Rob  was  drawing  long  lines  on  a  slate, 
and  Phil  was  reading  something  of  interest 
that  his  book  afforded.  Neither  of  them 
missed  Louis  for  some  time,  and  when  at 
last  they  did,  they  simply  exchanged  a 
look  of  assurance  that  said  as  plainly  as 
words,  "  Oh,  he's  all  right ;  he  knows  the 
way  home  in  a  little  village  like  this." 

Rob's  drawing  made  a  good  deal  of  noise, 
and  the  teacher,  having  inquired  into  Louis' 
sudden  disappearance,  and  the  probability 
of  his  reaching  home  in  safety,  proposed 
that  Rob  should  do  a  "  sum "  with  the 
Arithmetic  class  just  called  out. 


140  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

"I  should  like  to,"  said  Rob,  smilingly; 
"  but  we  only  have  examples  in  our  school ; 
we  don't  do  sums.  Phil  can  do  'em  I 
s'pose.  He's  a  grammar  schooler." 

Biit  Phil  was  interested  in  his  book,  and 
Rob  was  easily  persuaded  to  try  his  hand 
at  a  sum.  To  his  dismay  it  was  a  "long 
division  example,"  and  he  had  never  suc- 
ceeded in  that  branch  of  mathematics.  He 
attacked  it  bravely,  but  it  got  the  better 
of  him. 

"No'm,  not  exactly  right,"  said  Rob,  in 
reply  to  the  teacher's  question ;  "you  said 
the  answer  was  736,  but  I've  got  it  511." 

"  Never  mind,"  said  the  teacher,  cheer- 
fully ;  "  it  is  too  bad  to  work  in  vacation, 
and  you  would  do  better  another  time, 
I  dare  say." 

"Now  ihaCz  the  boss  teacher!"  thought 
Rob;  "I  believe  I  shall  go  to  school  here 
all  summer !  " 


PUBLIC   SPEAKING.  141 

To  his  great  delight,  there  followed 
"  declamations  aiid  recitations."  There 
were  brought  forward  as  many  of  the 
standard  pieces  for  such  occasions,  as  the 
size  of  the  school  would  allow.  Rob 
listened  with  unbounded  pleasure  to  the 
"  Soliloquy  of  Hamlet "  ;  the  "  Speech  of 
Spartacus " ;  "  Come  Hither,'  Evan  Cam- 
eron "  ;  and  "  Bingen  on  the  Rhine  ". 

The  girls  folded  their  hands  prettily  be- 
fore them,  and  "  gave  "  "  We  are  Seven  "  ; 
««  Maud  Muller  "  ;  and,  "  Oh,  the  Rain,  the 
Beautiful  Rain." 

Phil,  being  urged  to  speak,  repeated  all 
he  could  remember  from  Hiawatha,  Indian 
names  and  all. 

Rob  was  then  politely  invited  to  "  speak 
a  piece."  He  actually  hesitated. 

"  Well,"  said  he  at  last,  overwhelmed  by 
the  solid  acquirements  of  the  young  people 
around  him,  "I  can't  speak  any  of  these 
things.  I'm  a  primary." 


142  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

"  Oh,  never  mind !  "  said  the  little  brown- 
eyed  teacher,  pleasantly ;  "  we  shall  like  to 
hear  anything  that  you  can  speak,  I  am 
sure." 

"  She  is  boss,  that's  a  fact,"  thought 
Rob ;  but  he  said  aloud :  "  Well,  then,  I 
should  like  to  try.  Did  you  ever  hear 
this  ? 

'  Two  little  kittens,  one  stormy  night, 
Began  to  quarrel,  and  then  to  fight; 
One  had  a  mouse,  the  other  had  none, 
And  that  was  the  way  the  quarrel  begun.' " 

No,  she  had  never  heard  that. 

"But,"  said  Rob,  I  don't  like  that  so 
well  as  I  do  another  one.  And  that  one 
is  about  a  'stormy  night,'  and  the  other 
one  is  about  bugs.  I  should  think  the  one 
about  bugs  is  the  best  one  to  speak  in  the 
summer,  shouldn't  you  ?  " 

Either  would  be  agreeable ;  so  the  reci- 
tation began. 


PUBLIC   SPEAKING.  143 

"  Three  little  bugs  in  a  basket, 

And  hardly  room  for  two; 
And  one  was  yellow,  and  one  was  black, 

And  one  like  me  or  you; 
The  space  was  small,  no  doubt,  for  all, 
So  what  should  the  three  bugs  do?" 

"  Three  little  bugs  in  a  basket, 

And  hardly  crumbs  for  two; 
And  all  were  selfish  in  their  hearts, 

The  same  as  I  or  you; 

So  the  strong  ones  said,  '  We  will  eat  the  bread, 
And  that's  what  we  will  do ! " 

There  was  a  smile  upon  the  faces  of  the 
school,  and  Rob  felt  that  he  was  appre- 
ciated; so  he  went  on  at  a  break-neck 
pace: 

"  Three  little  bugs  in  a  basket, 

And  the  beds  but  two  would  hold; 
And  so  they  fell  to  quarreling  — 

The  white,  the  black,  and  the  gold  — 
And  two  of  the  bugs  got  under  the  ruga, 
And  one  was  out  in  the  cold." 

"He  that  was  left  in  the  basket 
Without  a  crumb  to  chew, 


144  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

Or  a  shred  in  which,  to  wrap  himself 

When  the  wind  across  him  blew, 
Pulled  one  of  the  rugs  from  one  of  the  bugs, 

And  so  the  quarrel  grew." 

"So  there  was  war  in  the  basket; 

Oh,  pity  'tis,  'tis  true! 
But  he  that  was  hungry  and  cold,  at  last 

A  strength  from  his  weakness  drew, 
And  pulled  the  rugs  from  both  of  the  bugs, 
And  killed  and  ate  them  too!" 

Here    he    tripped    and    stumbled ;    such 
speed  was  sure  to  be  disastrous: 

" '  Now  when  bugs  live  in  a  stormy  night,' 

Oh,  no  ! 

1  Now  when  kittens  live  in  a  basket  three '  — 

Oh,  dear,  I'm  realy  sorry,"  finished  Rob, 
with  a  bright  blush,  "but  I  can't  think 
how  the  moral  goes.  It's  something  like 
4  they'd  better  agree  and  divide  things,' 
and  '  leave  no  bug  out  in  the  cold.'  I've 
got  it  mixed  up  with  the  one  about  the 
kittens.  They  quarreled  too,  and  got  swept 


PUBLIC   SPEAKING.  145 

out  of  the  room,  and  the  moral's  just  the 
same." 

"Never  mind  that,"  said  the  teacher 
again.  "  It  was  very  nice,  and  we  can 
guess  at  the  moral." 

This  closed  the  "  exercises,"  and  when 
Rob  said  u  good-bye"  to  the  teacher,  he 
put  up  his  face  to  be  kissed. 

"  What  does  make  you  always  kiss  every- 
body?" said  Phil,  on  the  way  home. 

"  Why,  I  like  to  !  "  said  Rob,  honestly  ; 
"  and  she  is  a  real  pretty  teacher." 

"  You're  getting  too  big  for  it,  anyway,'* 
said  Phil,  "and  you'd  better  not." 

"  You  kiss  Aunt  Marion  and  mamma  and 
papa,  you  know  you  do,"  argued  Rob,  "  and 
you're  bigger  than  I  am.  And  they're  not, 
a  bit  nicer  than  that  teacher  —  only  they're 
ours." 

Phil  laughed  and  was  silenced,  but  not 
convinced. 


146  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S   VACATION. 

"  We  both  spoke  pieces,"  said  Rob,  when 
they  reached  home. 

"  How  could  you  ?  "  said  the  mother ; 
"  what  do  you  know  to  speak  ?  " 

They  told  the  story  of  the  "  exercises," 
and  Phil  added :  "  And  mamma,  we  got 
some  applause." 

Rob  looked  suspiciously  at  Phil's  pockets 
and  hands. 

"  Some  applause !  "  he  repeated  in  sur- 
prise. "  What  are  they  ?  Where  are 
they?  Let  me  see  'em!" 

Another  word  with  its  meaning  was 
added  to  Rob's  vocabulary,  but  for  some 
weeks  he  blushed  at  the  mere  mention  of 
the  word  applause. 

"  Can't  we  go  barefooted,  mamma  ? " 
begged  the  boys,  now  ready  for  exercise. 
Every  day  for  two  weeks  this  question  had 
been  asked,  and  every  day  the  answer  had 
been  no.  But  to-day,  to  their  utter  sur- 


PUBLIC   SPEAKING.  147 

prise,  mamma  said,  "yes,  take  off  your 
shoes  and  stockings  and  try  it." 

"  It  is  the  only  way  to  cure  them  of  it," 
uncle  Tim  had  said,  and  now  the  remedy 
was  to  be  applied.  Away  they  went,  bare- 
footed and  happy,  to  examine  the  state  of 
a  polliwog  trap  in  the  river.  Louis  was 
miserable  in  his  shoes,  forced  to  wait  and 
see  how  the  other  boys  liked  it. 

Two  hours  later  the  little  fellows  came 
limping  along  together  beside  a  huge  load 
of  hay,  but,  in  place  of  going  as  usual  to 
the  barn,  sat  down  side  by  side  on  the 
doorstep,  and  let  the  hay  go  by  without 
notice. 

"  How  do  you  like  being  barefooted  ?  " 
asked  their  mother.  Each  waited  for  the 
other  to  answer. 

"  Rob's  foot  is  bleedin' !  "  cried  Louis, 
who  had  at  once  begun  an  examination. 
"  So's  Phil's  !  oh,  my !  " 


148  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

"  It  was  awful  stubbly,  that  field  was !  " 
said  Rob. 

"  And  we  walked  all  the  way  up  from 
the  intervale  on  the  stubble,"  said  Phil, 
"because  we  wouldn't  ask  the  men  to  let 
us  ride  on  the  hay.  They  laughed  at  us 
because  we  couldn't  go  barefooted,  but  we 
showed  them  we  could." 

'%4  We  had  to  come  most  of  the  way  up 
on  our  toes,"  said  Rob,  dolefully ;  "  it  was 
so  stubbly." 

Mamma  bathed  the  little  tired  feet  ten- 
derly, and  neither  of  the  young  gentlemen 
objected  to  a  bit  of  salve  and  some  soft 
linen  cloths. 

"  I  sh'd  think  it  was  jest  as  well  to  wear 
shoes,"  said  Rob. 

"  I  should  think  it  was  a  great  deal  bet- 
ter," said  mamma,  decidedly. 

So  ended  going  barefooted ;  for  the  sub- 
ject was  never  mentioned  again. 


jb-^J 

— T«i5^— _T  -  t?>J-C  ' 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  VERY  LAST  DAY. 

fT  was  Sunday  afternoon.  The  boys 
had  been  to  church  in  the  morning, 
but  the  day  was  so  warm  that  their 
mother,  after  dinner,  put  them  all  into  light 
linen  suits  and  begged  them  to  keep  as 
quiet  and  as  cool  as  possible. 

Rob  had  a  "  show "  out  in  the  shed  in 
one  corner.  There  were  three  shelves 
decked  with  scalloped  paper,  and  over  the 
shelves  hung  a  little  curtain.  Above  the 
curtain  was  fastened  a  long  strip  of  paste- 
board on  which  Rob  had  printed, 

149 


150  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

KNOXES   CURIOSYTYS 

ADMISSION  2  PINS. 

The  curiosities  were  chiefly  of  paper, 
and  of  Rob's  own  making,  the  fruit  of  his 
rainy  day  labors. 

"  Can't  I  go  out  to  my  curiosities  ? '. 
asked  Rob,  on  this  Sunday  afternoon. 

"  No.  Sunday  could  be  better  spent  in 
another  way." 

"  But,"  urged  Rob,  "  you  see  I  don't 
want  to  play  with  the  curiosities,  nor  have 
the  other  boys  conie  into  'em ;  I  jest  want 
to  go  out  and  hang  round.  That  wouldn't 
be  wicked,  would  it  ?  " 

But  mamma  was  inflexible.  He  might 
go  and  read. 

No. 

He  might  go  and  ask  Phil  to  tell  him 
some  stories. 

No. 

Lie  down  on  the  bed  beside  mamma,  and 
take  a  nap. 


THE  VERY  LAST  DAY.  151 

No,  no  !  couldn't  he  go  to  walk  ? 

The  thermometer  stood  at  ninety,  so  he 
couldn't  by  any  means  take  a  walk ;  but 
—  mamma  was  always  ready  —  Rob  might 
come  and  sit  beside  her  and  learn  a  Sab- 
•bath  School  lesson. 

This  was  very  hard,  Rob  thought,  but 
the  decree  had  gone  forth  and  there  was 
no  chance  for  discussion. 

Ananias  and  Sapphira  came  next  on  the 
lesson  papers,  mamma  thought,  so  Rob, 
Bible  in  hand,  spelled  out  the  story  word 
by  word.  Then  his  mother  read  it  to  him 
smoothly  and  correctly.  Rob  yawned  a 
great  many  times,  took  a  vast  number  of 
uncomfortable  positions  in  various  parts  of 
the  bed,  looked  out  of  the  window  at  the 
blue  sky  and  trees  and  grass,  and  nearly 
broke  his  neck  in  an  attempt  to  see,  with- 
out getting  down  from  the  bed,  whether 
Phil  was  in  the  hammock.  Mamma  made 


152  AN  AVERAGE  BOZ'S   VACATION. 

Rob  tell  her  the  story,  which  he  did  with 
great  correctness  as  to  facts.  Then  all 
proper  questions  on  the  subject  were  gone 
through  with  and  admirably  answered. 
Rob  was  getting  very  anxious  to  join  Phil 
and  Louis. 

"You  may  go  in  a  minute,"  said  his 
mother ;  "  as  soon  as  you  tell  me  just 
what  this  lesson  seems  to  you  to  be  about." 

"Why,"  said  Rob,  surprised,  "it's  about 
a  man  and  woman  that  sold  their  field. 
And  they  didn't  get  so  much  money  as 
they  ought  to  for  it,  and  when  Saint  Peter 
asked  them  about  it  they  were  so  ashamed 
they  died  —  both  of  'em." 

It  was  sometime  before  Rob  went  out 
of  doors,  after  all,  because  this  moral  had 
to  be  pointed.  But  he  did  go  at  last,  tired 
and  ready  to  be  entertained. 

"  Tell  us  a  story,  Phil !  "  he  cried,  burst- 
ing into  the  yard  under  the  locusts. 


THE   VERY  LAST   DAY.  153 

"  Oh  bother  !  "  replied  Phil,  briefly. 
"Read  one." 

"I've  jest  read  one,"  answered  Rob, 
"  and  it  takes  so  long  when  you  have  to 
spell  out  the  long  words.  Tell  us  about 
the  Red  Shoes  that  danced  with  the  little 
girl,  and  she  couldn't  help  it,  over  field 
and  meadow  in  rain  and  sunshine  by  night 
and  by  day,  but  it  was  far  worse  by  night." 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  Phil,  sleepily. 

"  Tell  about  the  snail,  then,  that  lived 
in  a  forest  of  burdocks,  and  how  the  other 
little  snail  came  and  married  him  'cause 
he  had  a  burdock  forest  and  she  had  only 
a  bush." 

Phil  didn't  answer. 

"  Tell  'the  most  extra — ordin — ary  thing' 
then  —  that's  a  boss  story. 

"He's  a  hateful,  sleepy  old  thing;  tell 
it  yourself ! "  suggested  Louis,  from  the 
grass. 


154  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

"Oh,  I  can't  half  remember  it.  There 
was  a  king  —  " 

"  Is  it  Hans  Andersen's  ?  "  asked  Louis. 

"  Yes ;  and  the  king  said  that  anybody 
that  would  do  the  most  extra  —  ordin  —  ary 
thing  should  marry  his  daughter.  One  man 
drank  himself  to  death  trying  to  do  it,  and 
two  men  ate  themselves  to  death,  but  that 
wasn't  it.  Some  boys  tried  to  spit  on  the 
small  of  their  own  backs.  They  thought 
that  was  very  remarkable." 

"  Did  they  do  it  ?  "  asked  Louis,  eagerly. 

"  Don't  know ;  story  doesn't  say.  Another 
man  made  a  clock  with  Moses,  and  the  Gar- 
den of  Paradise,  and  a  cuckoo,  and  a  grass- 
hopper, and  a  spectacle  maker,  and  a  watch- 
man with  a  long  cape,  and  a  cook,  and  a 
stork's  nest,  and  a  crow." 

"Oh,  my!"  said  Louis. 

"  And  another  man  knocked  the  clock 
to  pieces,  and  he  married  the  king's  daugh- 


THE  VERY  LAST  DAY.  155 

ter.  But  the  things  in  the  clock  all  came 
to  life,  and  the  watchman  in  the  cape  came 
out  and  struck  this  last  man  on  the  head, 
and  Tie  married  the  king's  daughter  ;  so  the 
man  that  made  the  clock  came  out  ahead, 
you  see,  after  all.  And  the  candles  in  the 
church  were  flowers  of  light,  and  the  gilt 
stars  on  the  ceiling  of  the  church  grew 
into  real  stars,  and  the  organ  played  with- 
out anybody  to  play  it." 

"Oh,  my!"  said  Louis,  again. 

"That's  all  there  was  to  it,"  finished 
Rob,  "  but  I  wish  I  knew  some  more." 

The  day  was  very  sultry.  Great  hot 
waves  of  air  came  sweeping  around  the 
corner  of  the  house  into  the  yard  where 
the  children  were.  The  broad  street  that 
creeps  under  the  trees,  through  the  village, 
and  goes  climbing  up  a  hill  away  at  the 
end,  lay  white  and  still  in  the  heat.  The 
great  elms  overhanging  the  street  on  either 


156  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

side  drooped  their  leaves  white  with  dust. 
The  still  air  was  yellow  with  sunshine ;  now 
and  then  an  insect  hummed  out  a  sleepy 
story,  but  the  birds  among  the  branches 
gave  no  sound.  The  little  white  vestry 
over  the  way  glistened  like  a  china  tea  cup. 
Doors  and  window-blinds  were  closed  and, 
save  these  children,  the  whole  village 
seemed  asleep  in  the  sunshine. 

Phil  began :  "  Hans  Anderson  says,  too, 
that  in  the  hot  lands  the  sun  burns  sure 
enough." 

"  This  must  be  one  of  'em,"  broke  in 
Rob. 

"  No,  the  people  there  are  mahogany 
brown,  and  in  the  hottest  lands  they  are 
all  burnt  to  negroes.  Everybody  has  to 
stay  in  all  day,  and  the  -streets  are  narrow 
and  have  high  houses  built,  so  that  the 
sunshine  falls  straight  into  them  from 
morning  till  night.  People  grow  thin  with 
it ;  it's  just  like  a  glowing  oven." 


THE  VERY  LAST  DAY.  157 

"  Oh,  dear  I  "  said  Rob  ;  "  don't  you 
know  any  better  story  than  that.  That's  too 
hot." 

"Well,  he  tells  one  about  a  Snow  Man, 
with  two  three-cornered  pieces  of  tile  in 
his  head  for  eyes,  and  his  mouth  made  of 
an  old  rake  so  that  he  had  plenty  of 
teeth." 

"  Yes,  I  know ;  he  quarrelled  with  the 
Yard  Dog.  I  don't  care  about  hearing 
that  one." 

"  Then  there's  the  Snow  Queen." 

"  Boss  !  "  said  Rob.  "  Go  ahead  on  that 
one  !  That's  cool !  " 

"  Once  there  was  a  little  boy  named 
Kay,  and  a  little  girl  named  Gerda ;  and 
they  were  very  fond  of  each  other,  till  one 
day  Kay  got  a  piece  of  glass  in  his  eyes 
out  of  a  magic  mirror.  Then  everything 
looked  horrid  to  him.  He  said  Gerda  was 
ugly,  and  he  laughed  at  her  picture  books, 
and  made  fun  of  his  own  grandmother. 


158     AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

One  day  he  went  out  to  slide  with  the 
other  boys,  and  they  were  all  having  the 
fun,  and  Kay  tied  his  sled  to  one  going  by. 
It  was  a  large  sleigh  that  he  tied  it  to, 
painted  white,  with  somebody  driving  in 
a  rough  white  fur  coat,  and  a  rough  white 
fur  cap.  And  Kay  rode  and  rode  and  rode, 
and  by  and  bye  he  couldn't  untie  his  sled. 
Then  he  felt  dreadfully  and  wanted  to  go 
back;  but  nobody  would  hear  him,  and  he 
was  awfully  frightened,  arid  the  snow 
storm  drifted  right  in  his  face.  He  tried 
to  say  the  Lord's  Prayer,  but  he  couldn't; 
all  he  could  do  was  to  say  the  multiplica- 
tion table." 

"  Well,  I  declare  !  "  said  Rob  ;  "  that  was 
funny,  anyway." 

"  And  the  snow  flakes  grew  larger  and 
larger  till  they  looked  like  great  white 
hens.  By  and  bye,  the  man  that  was  driv- 
ing stood  up  in  the  sleigh,  and  he  was  a 
woman  1 " 


THE  VEEY  LAST  DAY.  159 

"Ho-o-o!"  said  Rob. 

"  Yes,  disguised,  you  know.  She  was 
the  Snow  Queen.  She  was  white  as  snow, 
and  her  coat  and  cap  were  snow,  and  when 
she  took  Kay  into  the  sleigh  to  ride  with 
her,  he  felt  as  if  he  was  sinking-  in  a  snow 
wreath." 

"Oh-h-h!  how  cool  I  feel!  go  on!" 
said  Louis. 

"  The  Queen  carried  him  up  to  her 
palace,  way  up  in  Finland.  The  walls  of 
the  palace  were  made  of  driving  snow, 
and  the  windows  and  doors  were  made 
of  sharp,  cutting  winds ;  and  when  the 
winds  blew  the  snow  about  it  made  great 
halls.  There  were  polar  bears  and  lots 
of  little  white  foxes  outside,  but  none  of 
them  ever  came  into  the  palace.  And  Kay 
was  awful  lonesome.  He  was  blue  with 
cold,  too,  almost  black,  but  he  had  got 
to  liking  the  Snow  Queen,  and  he  didn't 


100  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

know  how  cold  he  was.  His  heart,  you 
see,  was  a  lump  of  ice. 

In  the  middle  of  the  biggest  hall  of  all 
was  a  frozen  lake  cracked  in  a  thousand 
pieces,  and  when  the  Queen  was  at  home 
she  sat  in  the  middle  of  that." 

"  I  sh'd  thought  sh'd  broken  through," 
said  Louis. 

"  Well,  she  didn't ;  and  all  the  fun  Kay 
had  was  making  puzzles  out  of  flat  pieces 
of  ice  —  just  like  our  Chinese  Puzzle.  He 
was  always  trying  to  make  the  word  Eter- 
nity out  of  them,  and  he  never  could.  But 
the  Snow  Queen  told  him  that  if  he  would 
do  it  he  should  be  his  own  master,  and 
she  would  give  him  the  whole  world  and 
a  pair  of  new  skates  besides. 

One  day  she  went  away  for  a  visit  to 
the  warm  countries  and  left  Kay  all  alone, 
and  he  thought  and  thought  about  the 
blocks  of  ice  till  his  skull  was  almost- 


THE  VERY  LAST  DAY.  161 

cracked.     And,  do  you  believe,  Gerda  came 
in! 

"  She  had  followed  him  every  where  to 
brink  him  back.  She  floated  down  a  river 
in  a  boat  till  she  came  to  a  beautiful  gar- 
den. She  asked  the  flowers  about  Kay, 
and  they  couldn't  tell  her,  and  she  asked. 
a  raven  ;  and  the  raven  took  her  to  a  good 
Prince  and  Princess,  and  they  gave  her  a 
beautiful  carriage  to  go  and  find  Kay.  So> 
she  started  off  in  the  beautiful  carriage „ 
and  a  band  of  robbers  took  her  carriage 
away  from  her,  and  gave  Gerda  herself 
to  a  little  Robber  Maiden.  But  the  Rob- 
ber Maiden,  instead  of  killing  her,  gave 
her  a  Reindeer  to  carry  her  to  Finland- 
And  he  took  her  to  an  old  woman  in  Lap- 
land, who  said  that  Kay  was  really  and 
truly  at  the  Snow  Queen's,  and  liked  it 
very  much  because  he  had  a  splinter  of 
glass  in  his  eye  and  his  heart,  and  if  he; 


162  AN  A VT3RAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

didn't  get  them  out  he  would  never  be 
like  mankind  again. 

"  The  Reindeer  asked  her  if  she  couldn't 
give  Gerda  something  to  take  the  glass 
out  with,  and  the  old  woman  said  that 
Gerda  had  something  herself.  What  do 
you  bet  it  was  ?  " 

"  Bet  it  was  a  knife,"  said  Louis. 

"  Bet  'twas  some  kind  of  an  instrument," 
said  Rob ;  "  or  maybe  it  was  just  a  pin  or 
needle  or  something." 

"  No,  it  was  only  kindness — just  because 
she  was  sweet  and  good.  And  the  Rein- 
deer carried  her  along  to  the  edge  of  where 
the  Snow  Queen  lived,'  and  set  her  down 
by  a  bush  with  red  berries  that  stood  in 
the  snow.  From  there  she  had  to  walk 
in  a  snow  storm,  and  all  the  flakes  were 
alive ;  some  were  like  great  porcupines,  and 
others  like  snakes  all  knotted  together,  and 
others  like  bears  ;  but  they  were  all  white, 
of  course. 


THE  VERY  LAST  DAY.  163 

"  Gerda  was  frightened,  but  she  said  the 
Lord's  Prayer  —  " 

"  Didn't    she    know    her    multiplication 
table?"  asked  Rob. 

"  The  story  don't  say,  but  that  wouldn't 
have  done,  anyway ;  she  had  to  say  the 
prayer,  that's  what  helped  her  through. 
It  was  so  cold  up  there  that  her  own  breath 
when  it  came  out  of  her  mouth,  looked 
like  smoke,  and  it  changed  into  angels, 
and  the  angels  drove  away  the  snow  flakes, 
and  Gerda  got  on  first  rate  after  all. 

"  When  she  came  in  at  the  palace  door, 
there  sat  Kay  on  the  ice,  trying  to  make 
out  his  word  in  the  puzzle  ;  and  she  said 
the  prayer  again  and  went  in.  But  Kay 
didn't  know  her,  and  he  didn't  think  who 
she  was  till  after  she  put  her  arms  round 
his  neck  and  cried  and  cried  till  the  tears 
reached  his  heart  and  thaWed  the  ice  and 
eat  up  the  glass  splinter.  Then  Kay  cried, 


1G4  AN  AVERAGE   BOY'S  VACATION. 

and  that  washed  the  splinter  out  of  his  eye, 
and  he  was  all  right  again.  And  the  pieces 
of  ice  just  went  together  themselves  and 
made  the  Eternity  he  had  been  trying  to 
make  so  long  —  just  because  he  let  them 
alone,  you  see,  and  because  he  loved  Gerda 
again. 

"And  they  went  away  home  together, 
and  that's  all." 

"  It's  nice  and  cool,"  said  Louis,  "  but 
I  don't  understand  it." 

"Why,"  said  Rob,  "it's  to  show  what 
goodness  '11  do  for  you." 

"  And  that  you  mustn't  take  up  silly 
notions,  mamma  says ;  that's  what  ailed 
Kay,"  said  Phil. 

"And  mustn't  follow  strange  folks  away," 
added  Louis.  "  But  it's  gettin'  awful  dark ; 
what's  the  matter  ?  " 

"  'Most  night,  I  s'pose,"  said  Rob  ;  "you 
said  you  wouldn't  tell  a  story,  Phil,  and 


THE  VERY  LAST  DAY.  165 

here  you've  been  tellin'  one  all  the  after- 
noon. A  boss  one,  too,"  he  added,  to 
make  up  for  this  thrust. 

It  had  thundered  for  sometime  at  inter- 
vals, but  the  boys  had  been  too  much  ab- 
sorbed in  their  "  cool  story "  to  notice  it. 
Great  clouds  hung  low  about  the  moun- 
tains, and  grew  heavy  and  heavier.  Great 
sheets  of  fire  flashed  from  the  clouds,  fol- 
lowed by  peal  after  peal  of  thunder. 

The  rain  poured  down  in  torrents;  the 
long  grass  swayed  to  and  fro ;  the  wind 
blew  in  great  gusts ;  the  elm  branches 
tossed  fiercely  about ;  and  the  corn  lay 
beaten  to  the  ground. 

"  Oh,  dear  !  "  said  Louis,  "  all  uncle 
Tim's  New  Jersey  cows  are  out!  but  I'm 
glad  we  got  in  the  bat  and  ball,  for  that's 
a  private  bat  and  val'ble." 

In  an  hour  the  wind  was  soft  and  cool,  — 
"been  washed,"  Rob  said  —  and,  in  place 
of  the  heavy  black  clouds,  great  white 


166  AN  AVERAGE  BOY'S  VACATION. 

heaps  of  fleece  lay  against  the  blue  sky 
and  hung  lovingly  about  the  mountains, 
Flies  danced  and  buzzed  in  the  warm  sun- 
shine, and  the  great  elm  trees  and  the 
locusts  stood  glittering  with  water-drops. 

All  the  boys  were  barefooted  to  walk 
in  the  wet  grass  for  the  last  time  ;  for  this 
was  the  last  day  of  vacation. 

"  Oh,  mamma,"  said  Louis,  wading 
through  the  tall  grass  to  a  mud  puddle, 
and  patting  in  one  little  bare  foot  after 
the  other,  over  and  over  again,  "  Oh, 
mamma,  if  we  only  didn't  have  to  read 
and  spell,  we  could  stay  up  here  always, 
and  go  haying  and  things,  and  tell  stories, 
and  have  showers,  and  never  learn  any- 
thing at  all." 

But    they   did   go    home    the   very   next 
day  —  Phil  and  Bob   went  to  school ;  and  if 
you  care  to  hear  from  them  again,  look  out 
for  the  next  of  the  FOREST  CITY  SERIES. 


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